


It's In My Blood

by StayInMyLane



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Crack, Family Feels, Fighting, Fluff, Humor, I try to be funny, Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance, Sarcasm, Sass, Supernatural Elements, Swearing, Violence, chapter titles are songs that inspire me, check out my first fanfic "a glitch", everyone is badass again, happy endings, i am cliche, i use humor to get out of stressful situations, im multifandom, im not into angst between characters, jeongin comes in later, more tags later as i update, other kpop idols of course, perhaps more sexy times, secret agent AU, stray kids are older with careers, supernatural powers, that was shameless promoting im sorry, you will find out what minho and the others are later, you will see
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2019-09-29 01:02:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 172,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17193563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StayInMyLane/pseuds/StayInMyLane
Summary: Han Jisung had a pretty normal life. He always knew he was a little bit different, but chose to pretend otherwise and hide in plain sight.He likes to keep to himself, and gets along with almost anybody.Until one day, an obnoxious new neighbor moves into the apartment next door.His life was never the same after that.In other words: this is a stray kids secret agent au, everyone has supernatural abilities, they are slightly aged up with occupations, everyone is kickass, and other kpop idols will make an appearance because im multifandom and proud.[Complete]





	1. Crystallize

**Author's Note:**

> *Disclaimer*  
> This is purely fictional. The characters are in no way similar to their real life counterparts they are based off of. The way they talk and act is strictly for the purpose of the story. I love every kpop idol and mean them no harm.  
> This will have some blood drinking (dont worry its not what you think! and no, they arent vampires lol)  
> Also, this will have some more sexy moments in the love department ;)
> 
> i feel the need to put this in here. if you by any chance are inspired by my work or anyone else's, please give the proper credit to those that influence you. 
> 
> this fic was inspired by a combination of things: a couple of dramas and music. so if you notice any slight similarities, you are probably right. 
> 
> Updates will be a bit slower until i finish up my other fanfic "a glitch"  
> *New* I recently made a Twitter account dedicated to this ao3 account. On there I will post updates, spoilers, hints, and anything that inspires me while I write. Come shout out to me about anything kpop!  
> @stayinmylane10

**One year later: Winter**

Jisung coughed, his breath fanning out in the cold mountain air. He tried to take another deep breath but couldn’t, his lungs constricting painfully and chest rising and falling at a rapid pace.

He was going to die, he already knows it. but still, some part of his brain refuses to accept this fact, forcing his body to continue working to keep him alive.

Jisung is lying on his back in the white snow with his arms and legs spread out, his blonde hair fanning around him. his own blood tainted the beautiful perfection that surrounds him. Dark crimson red splattered across a white background, almost like a child trying to finger paint for the first time.

Red continues to flow from the knife wounds in his stomach while white flakes softly land on him like flower petals in the spring. Instead of watching the red bleed through the white, he forces his eyes to look up into the night sky. dark hues of purple, indigo, and violet clash with the snowflakes, calming down his beating heart that was just barely fluttering in his chest.

He lets a single tear roll down his face from each of his eyes, the fleeting thought of wanting to stay alive overtaking what’s left of his consciousness.

Nobody is even here to see him take his last breath. He’s going to spend his last seconds here on this earth alone.

He’s always been alone.

After several more minutes of trying to gasp for air, the blood continuing to pour out of his fatal wounds, jisung’s vision starts to go blurry and then turn black. It was slowly going dark from the outer edges of his vision, creeping in on him until he could barely see anything in the center.

Just before he couldn’t see anything anymore, someone he thought seemed familiar came into his line of sight, looking down at him. jisung’s eyesight was too blurry so that he couldn’t make out a clear face. All he could tell was that this person was young, a male, and had brown hair.

In the back of jisung’s mind, something pricked at his psyche, telling him he should know this boy well.

The person continued to watch jisung as his body was shutting down, his head tilted to the side in thought. It was almost as if this mysterious boy was debating something, an internal conflict jisung didn’t have the time left to contemplate.

Jisung’s eyelids drooped a fraction of a centimeter lower, so the figure was almost completely gone out of sight. His eyes had a dim wine colored glow that was slowly fading away with his dying breath. He knew his blood pressure was tanking. He was out of time.

Jisung smiled, or rather, he thought he managed to smile. At least someone was there to see him go. Its better than being by himself.

And then jisung’s eyes closed completely, his heart giving a few more useless beats, trying to kick start itself in one last attempt at life.

Before jisung lost complete consciousness to the never-ending dark that awaited him, he felt a pair of lips touching his own, separating them with something warm making its way down his throat. He swallowed on reflex, just barely registering the metallic taste of iron on his tongue.

Whoever was kissing him started to pull away, and jisung wanted to grab him to make him stay. All rational thought left his mind. Can you blame him? he was dying, and this was probably the best kiss he’s had in a while, or ever for that matter. It just seemed so right, he could feel it deep within him.

Jisung knew it was futile to try and use his hand to clutch onto this stranger, his body was numb and broken after all. But to his complete and utter surprise, his hand obeyed his command, lifted from the snow, and he fisted the stranger’s shirt, dragging him closer and reconnecting their lips.

He licked across this person’s perfect bottom lip, tasting blood and then their natural taste that was oh-so addicting. Jisung could feel the stranger smirk against his lips (his mind was telling him he should know that smirk quite well), and then they complied, opening their mouth for him. jisung wasted no time licking inside, his other hand now able to work and making its way into the mysterious boy’s familiar silky hair. He buried his fingertips in it and tugged slightly, keeping their head still as he tilted his own head and deepened the kiss. Both of their lips moved together in perfect sync.

The stranger broke from the kiss first, the need for air too strong, and jisung tried to chase after them but was still too weak. His and jisung’s panting became the only sound in the still night.

Jisung could feel the boy’s warm breath on his cold face, and their soft fingertips tracing from his temple down the side of his cheek to his jaw in the lightest of caresses.

Someone did that to jisung before, but his body was still too broken to be able to recall who.

Jisung licked his lips, faintly able to taste remnants of blood.

His eyes were still glued shut unable to open them yet. But his heart began to beat again in a strong rhythm, and slowly his body was coming back to life once more.

The stranger slowly began to move away, his warmth leaving jisung’s side. Jisung started to feel really sleepy, probably from the adrenaline leaving him. he dipped in and out of consciousness once again, but this time the darkness was not taking him for good.

Before he knew it, he didn’t have the strength to stay awake let alone talk or ask any of the questions he so desperately needed answers to.

After a few more moments of silence, jisung thought the stranger disappeared already. He felt a pang of disappointment for some reason.

But then he heard a familiar soft melodic voice blending into the quiet snowy night. jisung recognized that voice, but he was too out of it to make any sense at the moment. For some reason, it relaxed him even in this insane situation.

“Looks like we are stuck with each other for eternity now you insanely stubborn, super annoying, irritatingly nosey, breathtakingly beautiful, gorgeous piece of shit that ever crossed paths with me.” The voice ranted, before finally leaving as silently as he had come.

That was the last thing jisung heard before he let the darkness take him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Crystallize" by Lindsey Stirling


	2. Are You Ready For It?

Minho leans back casually in his chair, propping his feet up on the metal conference desk before them. He’s staring down at his latest assignment wondering what kind of mess he’s going to get himself into this time. All of his assignments have been either dull or difficult.

He peeks a glance over at hyunjin and felix’s assignments, and then looks back down at his own, debating whether he got the shitty one again this time.

He hears felix sigh dramatically next to him, and then slam the paperwork down on the table.

“I can’t believe woojin gave me this guy, what the hell?! This guy looks like he chops people up and stores them in his people-fridge he has hidden in a dark corner of his garage! Just look at his picture! He’s glaring right through my soul, oh my God I think im gonna cry!” felix rambles on, fanning himself and trying to dry out his watering eyes.

_Ah, it would seem Felix got the short end of the stick this time around._

Minho studies the boy Felix has to watch over. He had an angular jaw line and dark eyes that said he hated being there and taking that photo. He also had multiple piercings on each of his ears, and his dark hair was cut in an edgy sort of style.

_He isn’t that bad._ Minho thought. _But completely opposite of felix_.

Felix was soft, and bubbly, and cried like a girl sometimes when he gets over emotional. Minho chuckled at the sharp contrast between the two. How felix is going to pull this one off, he has no idea.

But felix will manage. He always does. One look at felix’s blinding smile and this kid will be putty in his small hand. minho would even bet on it.

Hyunjin chuckled, looking down at his own assignment. “I scored pretty good this time you guys. This guy looks like a nerd. The ‘I help old ladies cross the street’ and ‘oh my, didn’t you think the choir sounded swell today in church?’ kind of nerd. Easy peasy. How bout you minho?”

Minho stared at the guy’s picture more closely, trying to discern his entire being and what he’s like by just a small picture and a couple pages of words. He had blonde hair, a few ear piercings, chubby cheeks, and expressive wide eyes.

Minho read aloud what his report said about his newest assignment.

“Han Jisung. Occupation: male nurse. Likes to produce music with a bang chan and seo changbin in his free time. Good friends with a kim seungmin. they met in medical school. No family. No pets. Lives alone in a single apartment complex. Psychic abilities: psychometry. From what we know, he is able to read and gather knowledge of an object’s past just by touching it. How he found out about his powers is unknown.”

Hyunjin raised his eyebrows, “looks like yours will be a bit simple. He sounds pretty boring and normal. Mine is way more fun.”

He paused, gathering his reports and then read, “Kim Seungmin. Occupation: Doctor. Good friends with a Han Jisung. Lives in an expensive apartment complex on the upper end of the city. No family. Psychic abilities: precognition. He can see predictions of tragic events that are going to happen within minutes of it actually occurring. Found out about his abilities at an early age when he and his parents were in a car crash when he was really young. Apparently, witnesses at the party they were attending claim he tried to stop them from leaving the party because of what he saw was going to happen. They didn't listen, and he ended up being the only survivor. No other family wanted to take him in after that and he was sent to the foster system where he jumped from family to family until he was of legal age. Incredibly smart, top of his class, rode by in college on scholarships and grants. He is the youngest doctor to be hired at his hospital. He met jisung in medical school and they have been friends ever since. Jisung works at the same hospital as him.” hyunjin finished his report and frowned.

“seems like this seungmin guy had a pretty rough start,” felix said, sniffling a little at seungmin’s quick back story.

Hyunjin nodded in agreement. “what about you?” he asked, tilting his head to felix’s assignment, the reports still scattered on the desk.

Felix reluctantly gathered the papers and with a hiss he read: “Seo Changbin. Occupation: owns a music store. friends with a bang chan and han jisung. They produce music together in their off time. He used to get in trouble a lot during school. Apparently he has a sharp tongue and big attitude. Hates people that annoy him. he’s a black belt in kickboxing. His family refuses to talk to him, and he refuses to acknowledge their existence. It doesn’t say why. Psychic abilities: psychokinesis, otherwise known as telekinesis. He found out about his abilities when he was younger. He was in a scuffle with a few other boys from school and got angry. It does not say what the fight was about. He ended up flinging one of the kids into a brick wall. Whether by accident or on purpose is also unknown. The child ended up in the hospital for a month. Changbin had trouble controlling his abilities all throughout his adolescent years. However, he is brilliant and now one of the best at psychokinesis that we have found. He is in perfect control and poses no threat as of today.” Felix finishes reading the report.

Felix was silent for a few moments, and then stood up. “oh sure!” he whines. “of course he’s a fucking black belt in kickboxing! I _told_ you guys he could murder me easily! If I ever go missing, make sure you check his fridge.”

Woojin walked into the room carrying another file as Felix continued on with his dramatics.

“Really Felix? Out of all of that, and you’re worried about his _kickboxing_?” minho chuckled at the younger.

“yeah felix, you are the best at martial arts in this unit. Hell, in the whole agency! I'm sure this punk skater boy is no match for you.” Hyunjin giggled.

Felix merely sniffed and crossed his arms in a huff. He turned to their unit leader, woojin, complaints already at the tip of his tongue. “woojineeeee can I _please_ switch with minho?! Why did you give me the worst one?!”

Woojin cleared his throat and looked at Felix calmly. “You think you have it rough Felix? I would beg to differ.” And with that, he smacked a picture up on the board at the front of the meeting room.

A light blonde haired male, bordering on having pink hair, stared back at them with dark circles under his eyes like he hasn’t slept in ages. Felix winced at the picture.

“Who’s that?” hyunjin asked.

Woojin opened his file with a snap, gathering his papers and straightening them on the table with sass. In an important formal reading voice he began: “Bang Chan. Occupation: Baker. He owns his own bakery. He is friends with a han jisung and seo changbin, but pretty much knows everybody, and becomes friends with anyone that crosses his path. Also an underground composer and producer, selling his music on the side for extra cash. It doesn’t say why. He never sleeps since he’s out all night producing and has to come back and bake really early in the morning. Inherited the bakery as his grandma’s last dying wish. No other known family. Psychic abilities: he can read auras. Nothing else particularly interesting about his abilities.”

Woojin ended the report, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “A _baker_. I’m going to have to go work for a baker, getting up at 4am _at least_ , on top of watching him all night at shady places. He never sleeps! Why couldn’t he have worked for a chicken restaurant or something?!” he grumbled, sitting in his chair in defeat.

He took a moment to compose himself, and then he snapped his head up, ready for serious business. “Alright you guys. As you know, we were assigned to protect these individuals for however long it takes.”

Hyunjin interrupted, “but why? Just because they have some psychic abilities? So what?”

Woojin addressed his question, folding his hands onto the metal desk in front of him. “I was getting to that. they are what is known as ‘the cherished,’ which is short for ‘god’s cherished ones.’ They are special individuals with extraordinary abilities. They are rare to find among all of the people in the world, and they are no ordinary psychics that many people claim to be nowadays. Over many years, governments and various crime organizations have taken a certain liking to these individuals, using them in the most cruelest of ways to get what they want. The complete list of abilities is unknown, meaning any day a new psychic can pop up on our radar. We have no idea what to expect from these people.” He paused, looking at his unit in seriousness.

Then he continued, “they are feared among the select few that know about them. We have traces dating back to the 1800s of people hunting and killing them for what they can do. Its part of where they got the whole ‘angry mob with torches and pitchforks’ image from, although there is absolutely no proof that is where it originated from. as of today, those people still exist, but are more clever than their ancestors, hiding in plain sight. It’s a miracle that these males that were assigned to us haven’t been targeted or attacked yet. Its an even greater miracle that they made it to this age still alive. Our job is to simply watch over these cherished, integrate ourselves into their lives subtly, but nothing more. we are not to get close to them. I repeat, do _not_ get anywhere near them unless absolutely necessary. do I make myself clear?” woojin gave all of them a firm stare, especially at Felix. Felix was notorious for disobeying and becoming friends with everybody.

Felix pouted, “there will be no problems from me this time. Trust me.” he said, flicking his paper with seo changbin’s face on it in annoyance and distaste.

After a few more moments of silence and no more further questions, woojin dismissed them.

Hyunjin grinned while standing up and stretching, enjoying this a little too much. “well, looks like I’m going to have to go dust off my old law books. Seungmin’s hospital just found themselves a new law attorney for the healthcare employees.”

Minho slid his boots off the desk and sat up smirking down at the boy he’s going to have to guard with his life. “I gotta go start packing. Boring old Jisung just found himself a new neighbor.”

Felix let out a huff and scrunched up his nose. “I suppose im joining that new gym/martial arts/kickboxing place down the street now. Gotta go get a membership today. I guess starting all over again and pretending to be a weak and innocent white belt wont be _that_ bad. Ill just think of it as a light work out.”

Hyunjin and minho snorted and giggled at the look on Felix’s face.

“I better go to bed.” Woojin grumbled.

“why? Its only like 4pm in the afternoon woojinie.” Felix asked the older.

Woojin looked dramatically at the clock on the wall.

“because it’s probably the last good sleep I’m going to get in a long time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Ready for it" by Taylor Swift


	3. Be Quiet

Jisung returned back from his day shift exhausted and ready for bed. He had to stay over at the hospital past his normal time of 3pm until 8pm because someone called off.

As he made his way up the stairs to the second and highest floor of his building, he noticed boxes littered the middle of the hallway near the apartment next door to him. he lifted an eyebrow in curiosity.

_It seems I have a new neighbor. That’s kind of disappointing._

The building jisung was staying in was rather run down, and fairly cheap. He still has debts to pay off from school and couldn’t afford to live lavishly just yet. Because the building was small, there were only a few units throughout the two floors. On the first floor was the landlady, but she never stayed in her apartment because she was always off traveling to exotic places. She let a management company take care of her places of rent while she was gone.

Also on the first floor was a laundry room and supply closet, and the boiler room where the hot water tanks were located and other mechanical stuff like that. on the second floor were two apartment units: jisung’s and the one next door to him.

It was a really quiet place, and even though it was run down, jisung liked staying there pretty much by himself a few months out of the year.

Jisung pushed past some of the boxes in his way, and inserted his keys into his lock. Without giving the boxes another look, he made his way into his small but cozy home and shut the door quickly. He was too tired to deal with new neighbors at the moment.

He prayed it wasn’t any punk college kids that moved in.

***

Jisung huffed, rolling over and burying his head into his pillows trying to block out the continuous thump-thump of music next door to him. this had been the third night in a row since his new neighbor moved in and woke him up.

Apparently his luck ran out and he ended up with a punk college kid after all. And this kid happens to like playing extremely loud music practically all night when jisung has to get up at like 5am every morning for his shift at the hospital.

He pulled the covers over his face, hoping that would help with the sound.

It didn’t.

He sat up in bed flinging the covers off of him and glared at his alarm clock on the night stand next to him.

4:45 am flashed back at him in bold red numbers.

He only has 15 minutes left to sleep!

He immediately picked up his phone and dialed a few numbers.

***

“ _jisung it is literally death-o-clock in the morning, you better be dying on your last breath or I swear to god-_ “ changbin ranted on the other end of the phone.

“ _hey jisungie, I was already up. I still have to put in the cream buns for today’s morning crowd._ ” Chan interrupted changbin. “ _you don’t have to be up for another 15-20 minutes, what’s the matter?_ ”

“ _I cant believe you still call us on a conference call like we are 11.”_ Changbin muttered into the phone grumpily.

“anyways,” jisung ignored changbin’s bad attitude. He hates being woken up so early in the morning. “guys I need help. I have this new punk college kid as a neighbor, and he has been blasting music every single night now for three nights. I cant sleep!”

“ _just beat the shit out of him. problem solved.”_ Changbin suggested unhelpfully. He was slowly waking up.

“ _or_ ,” chan budded in, the sounds of pots clanking in the background. _“you could knock and ask him to quiet down like a respectful human being.”_

“I know that! I was just slightly scared because what if he is super scary looking and beats me up?”

_“if you need someone to kick his ass, I guess I can stop by. You want any coffee? Ill swing by chan’s bakery and get us some to drink after I shove his face into the floor.”_ Changbin perked up at the thought.

_“nobody is beating anyone up.”_ Chan lectured. Jisung and changbin both whined in disappointment.

_“aw but hyung! We make such a good team!”_ changbin complained.

Just then, jisung heard the music get a little bit louder. He got extremely angry and snapped. “do you guys hear this shit?! That’s it.” he got up with his phone still in his hand to his ear and marched over to his front door.

He slammed his door open with a bang and stomped into the hallway next door. “I want you guys to stay on the line with me in case things go wrong. I'm going to give this asshole a piece of my mind!”

He knocked on his neighbor’s new door harshly. Well, he actually pounded on it with his fist since the music was so loud. They were the only tenants in the building, so jisung didn’t have to worry about waking anybody else up.

Jisung tapped his foot, waiting impatiently.

_“wow sungie. That is pretty loud. I can hear it through the phone.”_ Chan commented as he was putting more sweets into the oven.

Just then, the music stopped and the door swung open. And jisung completely forgot what he was going to say.

“hi there! Can I help you?” he heard a soft melodic voice say to him. jisung swallowed, his mouth going dry.

“oh shit.” Jisung whispered, changbin and chan hearing it on the other end.

_“jisung? You need me to come over? I can bring my boxing gloves, or use my fists. Or a lamp, really, its not a problem.”_ Changbin was rambling into jisung’s ear. Jisung briefly heard chan tell him to shut up.

Jisung looked at his new neighbor from head to toe. He was definitely not a college kid. Far from it.

In front of him was the most gorgeous boy he has ever seen in his life. on top of that, he was shirtless and sweaty, wearing comfy looking sweats, and oh lord was he toned. Like, not super muscular, but lithe and agile looking. His hair was combed back like he was raking his hands through it to keep it off his face. And oh god, his face. It was just so _pretty_.

Jisung shut his eyes, but it was too late. The image was already burned into his brain and never leaving.

“uhm hello?” the greek god asked again, his head tilted to the side in curiosity, a small smirk curling his lip, almost as if he was taunting jisung. He had a delicate silver earring that dangled down and brushed against the skin of his neck and shoulder. Jisung couldn’t take his eyes off of him, roaming around his entire figure. “is there anything on my face? Or are you just gonna drool right there in front of my door all morning?”

Jisung’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. Did he just hear that right? Is this guy making fun of him?

Ok yeah, jisung was practically drooling, he knows that. and yeah, it might have been a bit rude and kind of creepy. but what kind of asshole says that to their new neighbor at 5 in the morning after keeping him up for three nights in a row?! The least he could do was pretend he didn’t see it happen.

Jisung mentally shook himself out of his trance and snapped, glaring at this gorgeous jerk, already categorizing him as a waste of his time. _Why are the pretty ones always assholes?_

He took a step closer to the new guy, jabbing his finger into his chest boldly.

No, jisung did not do it to feel him up. Well, not completely. The guy tensed up, but didn’t move or become intimidated. He merely looked down at jisung with what appeared to be a bored face.

“ _excuse me_?! Listen here jackass. It is 5 in the fucking morning. Some people actually do something with their lives, like I don’t know, _go to work._ I haven’t gotten a single wink of sleep for _three nights_! Instead of partying like a wannabe frat boy, how about you be a little considerate and turn your fucking volume down. oh, and there’s this little thing called headphones! Maybe if you didn’t have a brain the size of a pea, you would be able to come up with that idea sooner instead of having your neighbor bang on your door to educate your pretty ass!” jisung huffed, finishing his rant.

That was incredibly rude and not the best of first impressions, _he knows that_. but he was sleep deprived, can you blame him?

And without waiting for a response, he backed away from the stranger, grabbed his neighbor’s door knob, and slammed the new guy’s own door shut. Then he quickly stomped to his own apartment and locked himself inside before he got arrested by the cops or something.

He slid down onto his floor, almost forgetting he still had his phone in his other hand and was still on the line with chan and changbin. he took a few deep breaths, and then brought the phone back up to his ear.

“guys, help. I’ve fallen and can’t get up.”

“ _then get a fucking Life Alert. Now tell us what the hell happened out there._ ” Changbin chuckled. “ _that was fucking amazing jisung! Remind me again to never piss you off when you are tired.”_

“I want to lick him all over.” Jisung muttered breathlessly into the phone.

He heard chan drop something, clinking it into the sink, and changbin cackling on the other end.

_“that hot, is he? Well, it looks like you clearly have things handled over there. With that, I have two more hours of sleep like a normal person before I have to get ready to open the store. im about to fire one of my employee’s asses and need my beauty rest. See you!”_ and then changbin hung up.

Chan laughed softly at the situation, _“well, its almost time to open up shop. Ill see you later jisungie. Try not to get arrested.”_ And then chan hung up the phone, leaving jisung to wallow in his misery alone.

He covered his face with his hands, trying to calm his beating heart.

“oh no. what did I just do?”

***

Minho stood there, staring at his closed door in shock. He honestly didn’t see that coming.

Hardly anything can take minho by surprise these days.

He thought his new assignment was going to be boring and dull. He sure was in for a rude awakening.

His mouth curled in amusement, and his eyes glinted with mischievousness as he remembered the look of jisung’s face when he opened his door. His blonde hair was a mess, and his large long sleeve shirt fell off one of his shoulders, exposing his delicate collarbone and neck.

Minho ran his hand through his sweaty hair and took a deep breath.

Jisung was bold when he was angry. It intrigued minho. He was used to getting stares for his looks; Hyunjin and felix always had the same problem. Hell, woojin would have the same problem too if he didn’t try so hard to blend into the background. But never before has anyone got up in his face and told him off, being too intimidated by how ‘good-looking’ he was. Yes, minho was being an asshole. But usually no one ever called him out for it.

Until now.

_Things just got a whole lot more interesting._ Minho thought, as he headed to the shower. His dance practice got cut short thanks to jisung, and he doesn’t feel like going back to it.

He entered his bathroom, and turned on the shower head to a steaming temperature.

And then he heard a scream coming from the apartment next door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Be Quiet" by Monsta X


	4. Me Too

Minho threw on a shirt and ran outside his apartment, hastily knocking on jisung’s door.

_Shit, did someone already try getting to him? did I miss someone following him?_

After a minute of knocking and still no answer, minho debated in front of jisung’s door. Should he kick it down? or pick the lock? Hell, the doors were so flimsy he could just turn the door knob while shoving his shoulder a little and the thing will snap and go flying.

After another 20 seconds of him thinking his next move, he was just about ready to ruin his cover and break down the damn door barefoot. He will deal with the damage later.

Then he suddenly heard stomping coming near the other side of the door, the sound of the lock turning. Minho brought his hands up slightly in a fighting stance, ready for whatever was coming out of the apartment.

The door slammed open and he was met face to face with a very wet and very annoyed jisung again. But this time it was minho’s turn to stare. Jisung was wearing nothing but a large towel wrapped around his slender waist, his blonde hair wet and even messier than before, silver earrings clinking together as he hurried to open his door.

Minho swallowed. Having more restraint than jisung, he snapped his eyes back up to meet jisung’s and quirked an eyebrow at the younger. He discreetly lowered his hands as to not appear threatening.

Jisung huffed in his doorway. “did you just take a shower?” he asked with a hiss of frustration.

“Uhm? No? not yet anyways, I was just about to.” Minho answered honestly without thinking, the sudden question completely catching him off guard.

“Good.” Jisung said still angry, chewing his bottom lip and then licking his lips out of habit.

This was quite a bizarre situation at the moment and Minho was beginning to learn real fast what ticked jisung off. He was having way too much fun antagonizing the younger. The next thing that slipped from his mouth was completely intentional. minho couldn’t help himself, he really couldn’t.

“is that your way of asking me to join you?” he asked the blonde, tone dead serious but a cocky smirk on his lips.

And then he waited.

Jisung blinked, and then spluttered, looking down at himself, almost as if he just realized how this may have looked and sounded. Then jisung ground down on his teeth and his face went slightly red. Minho couldn’t tell if it was embarrassment or anger. Maybe both.

Jisung quickly maneuvered himself behind his apartment door so that most of his body was hidden, but he glared at minho with fire in his eyes.

“No you dumbass! Obviously you lived in the fraternity house too long because you never realized these two apartments share a hot water tank! Not every place has the luxury of their own water tanks and furnaces!”

Minho’s smirk fell a bit, and he was honestly confused on where jisung was going with this.

“uhh? So?” he said dumbly.

Jisung sighed in annoyance, still peeking out from behind his door, water dripping from his hair onto his floor. “Apparently I have to spell this out for you.” He said slowly, like minho was a child. “this building is old, yes?”

Minho nodded and waited for jisung to continue. He has a lot of patience, it was one of the few qualities his teammates actually appreciated about him.

“there are only two hot water tanks in this building. One for the landlady downstairs, when she's home that is. And one for these two apartments.” Jisung ended his explanation, staring at minho.

Minho blinked. “ok, and how exactly is this a problem serious enough for you to shout bloody murder through the walls?”

Jisung ran his hand through his wet hair, minho tracking the movement. “well new neighbor, that means we both share a tiny hot water tank. So basically only one of us can use a large amount of hot water at a time. Like showering. I take it you like your showers extremely hot?” jisung inquired. Minho nodded dumbly. “well so do i. when you turned on your hot water, my shower went ice cold. That will also happen if you flush the toilet while i'm showering, or start your dishwasher. The only reason it hasn’t been a problem these three days is probably because I shower really early and i'm gone most of the day.”

Finally it clicked in minhos’ head. Jisung was just being a dramatic little wuss, screaming because his shower went ice cold when minho started his. An evil smirk started to make its way on minho’s face, but then he quickly wiped it away.

Jisung didn’t notice. “so I suggest, new neighbor uhm…”

“minho.”

“Right. Minho. I suggest we try to act like civilized people here, and work around our schedules. The one thing I hate most in this world is cold showers.”

Minho chuckled, he can reason with that. he hates them too, especially in this cold weather.

“my name is jisung, I work as a nurse at the local hospital down the street, and i'm usually out the door by 6:30am. So I shower about 5am every morning like clockwork. That’s not too unreasonable is it?” he tried to widen his eyes, looking like Bambi to get his way if minho protested.

Minho laughed at the nerve of this boy. after he just told him off earlier in his doorway slamming his own door in his face, and now he was trying to sweet talk minho into getting what he wanted. Minho gave in, more amused rather than pissed at the blonde for trying to manipulate minho into getting his way.

“its fine, im sure I can manage. And ill try to keep the volume down.” then a thought occurred to minho. “it must have been nice having all of the hot water to yourself this whole time. I'm surprised this apartment was vacant considering the price.” Minho was being honest, he didn’t even have to try and work his way into this building, his plans of sabotaging any of the previous owners so that he could live near jisung while being discreet unused. But as luck would have it, the apartment next to jisung's was already empty and up for rent.

Jisung smiled evilly, “yes, well someone used to live next door. He doesn’t anymore.” Was all he said to the older.

“Oh? Why?” minho asked, curious despite himself. jisung was just full of surprises.

Jisung tapped his finger against his chin, pretending to think about it. “hmm, for some reason his showers were freezing cold every morning at exactly 6:15am.” And with that jisung gave minho a fake sweet smile, saluted him, and slammed a door shut in minho’s face for the second time that morning.

Minho snorted, obviously getting the hidden message.

_Note to self: don’t mess with Han Jisung’s bathing time. You get a very rabid and grumpy jisung as a neighbor._

***

Changbin finishes his shift and closes up shop sharply at 5pm every day, and then he goes down the street to his favorite gym.

After the long day he had, he needed a hard work out to get rid of the stress building up around him. he went straight for the weights, walking past the people already there. putting his headphones in and clicking play on his playlist, he ignored the world around him.

***

Felix chewed on his lip, debating what to do. He joined the gym changbin was known to go to every day after closing up his music store, and he made it on time to take notice of the older walking in and heading towards the weights.

But he was not prepared for _this_.

In front of him was his horrible assignment, wearing a black cap, tight black tshirt with black sports sweats and black sneakers, lifting weights like they were cans of soup, his music blasting so loud felix could hear it from his spot a few feet away.

Felix looked down at his own outfit and groaned. He was wearing a neon black, blue, and pink sports jacket, with matching shorts, and bright blue sneakers. On top of that, his hair was freshly dyed a light pink/orange color. What was his boss and woojin thinking of when pairing him up with this guy? They were complete opposites! Minho or hyunjin would have been a better fit.

Still, this is the boy felix has to guard with his life. and like a good soldier, he takes his orders seriously.

He tried to move discreetly closer to changbin, noticing more details about the older boy as he got near. Changbin had two silver hoop earrings in one ear, and a stud earring in the other. felix’s eyes roamed over the boy, in a non-creepy like way, he promises. Changbin looked to be shorter than felix, his dark hair hidden under his cap. And then felix got to his arms.

_Oh my. Well that isn’t so bad._

His eyes lingered a little more on changbin’s physique, and then quickly snapped out of it, forgetting his momentary lapse of judgement.

After a few more moments of gathering up his confidence and patience, he made his move.

He approached changbin from the back, lightly tapping on his shoulder so he wouldn’t startle him with his music being so loud, and then he waited for the older boy to turn his way.

Changbin glanced up at felix over his shoulder, a frown on his face. He then pulled out an ear bud and set down his weight carefully. “Yes?”

Its now or never. “Hi!” felix said with fake enthusiasm. “I noticed you were pretty good with the weights over here, and I was just wondering, uhm, if you could perhaps show me how to use them properly? My arm strength is kinda weak, and I’m new here so…” he let his dumb explanation trail off, wincing at how stupid he sounded. There’s no way this guy is going to buy it.

Changbin’s frown deepened, and he just stared at felix for what felt like forever. He opened his mouth, felix already expecting the refusal.

“Actually, i'm just about to leave-“ he gruffed out, but was cut off by a teenage boy coming up to them, heading straight for changbin with anger on his face and a threatening gauge to his walk. Felix instantly tensed and slightly stepped in front of changbin, blocking him from the young boy.

Changbin didn’t notice, sighed, and stood up walking past felix. Felix ground his teeth, wanting to drag changbin back behind him, but also not wanting to blow his cover. He decided to step slightly next to changbin’s side, watching things play out.

“I cant believe you fired me! Over a voicemail, nonetheless!” the boy screamed at changbin right in front of everybody in the gym. Granted, it was getting later in the day and there weren’t a lot of people there, but it was still rude and disruptive. Obviously the teenager goes to this gym too, just like everybody else in the neighborhood.

Changbin rolled his eyes, and sighed in annoyance. “yeah? And what of it?” he challenged the kid.

“you have no reason to fire me!” the teenager argued back boldly.

“I had plenty of reason. You were swiping money from the cash register. You're lucky I didn’t throw your ass on the street in front of everyone. Although, by the way you are acting right now in public, I regret making that decision.” Changbin sniffed, and shrugged his shoulder.

“you have no proof I did that! it could have been anybody!” the kid retorted.

“I don’t need proof. Its my store, I do what I want.” Changbin laughed. “oh yeah, and the next time you are going to drink vodka in _my_ store on _my_ dime, at least put it in a water bottle. Really? Bringing the original bottle and thinking I wouldn’t see it behind the counter?” changbin shook his head in mock disappointment, “amateur.”

The teenager’s face was red in humiliation and anger. “good luck finding anybody who will work for your sorry ass! I was your last hope. Nobody else will be able to tolerate your damn attitude!”

“I may have an attitude, but I certainly don’t need yours.” And then changbin dismissed the teenager like he wasn’t there, gathered his things and started to head out of the gym, ignoring the stares he was getting. The teenager wasn’t completely wrong. A lot of people don’t like changbin and his ways, preferring to steer clear except for the need to buy the music he carries in his store.

Changbin pursed his lips. Good help was hard to find these days.

He walked out of the gym, not looking back.

Felix watched the whole thing in amusement. Obviously the kid was at fault, but he was acting like a hurt puppy that changbin just kicked.

After a minute of thinking, felix made up his mind, turned on his heel, and ran after changbin out of the gym.

***

Changbin decided to walk home, upset that his workout got cut short. The sun was just starting to set, and the cool breeze felt good on his cooling skin.

He was just about to put his headphones back in when he felt another tap on his shoulder. He was really getting annoyed now.

He stopped, whipped his head around and glared behind him, noticing it was the same guy from earlier. “what now?” he growled out, not apologetic in the least for his harsh tone of voice. Surprisingly, the boy didn’t cringe or flinch. He merely tilted his head in thought before speaking up.

“hi again, my name is felix! so I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation from earlier. And I was wondering if I can come work for you at your store?” the boy asked, giving changbin a big and bright smile.

Changbin blinked, not expecting that. he examined the bubbly boy in front of him, and squinted his eyes in suspicion. For some reason his happy and carefree attitude as well as his fairy-like visuals annoyed the shit out of him. _never trust a pretty face._

The boy danced from one foot to the other while waiting under changbin’s scrutiny.

What was his problem? Who just randomly asks a person for a job out of nowhere? Changbin gave him one last glare, and then answered, “No.”

His face fell in complete shock. Apparently this guy had no doubt changbin would say yes, even if it is true he needed a new employee, and what the teenager said about having a hard time finding someone to work for him was also true. But he didn’t have the patience to deal with this, and this kid seemed shady.

Changbin popped his earbud back in, turned, and walked away from the guy, leaving him alone on the street.

Felix blinked, not sure what just happened. Nobody has ever been so blunt with him, and he always gets what he wants if he asks nice enough. He squeezed his fists, taking a deep breath to give him the patience he needed. He will just have to up the charms a bit.

He ran up to changbin, walking in step with him and leaned into him so he could see his face more clearly. Changbin just glanced at him with a bored expression.

“Aw come on! Obviously you need a new employee, and i'm free!” felix whined, blinking his pretty eyes at changbin.

Changbin just walked faster. But felix had slightly longer legs and had no problems keeping up with him. he was known for being persistent in his unit.

“I know you can hear me. Your music isn’t even playing. I wont drink any vodka~” he singsonged. “only straight up whiskey, I promise!”

That got changbin to stop in his tracks, glaring over at felix. Who the hell says that to the person you are trying to get employment from?

“do you ever shut up?!” he said, exasperated.

“only if you let me work for you.” Felix answered with a confident smirk on his face.

Changbin contemplated it a few more seconds. Then he looked up to the sky. _Lord give me the strength for what i'm about to do_.

Felix looked over at him expectantly, waiting.

Changbin just knew he was going to regret this with every fiber of his being. He just _knew_ it.

“fine. you can work for me.” He relented, telling himself he can just fire another person’s ass if it turns out to be a problem. “be at my store tomorrow, 9am sharp.” And then he turned on his music for real this time, and walked away.

Felix clapped his hands happily, jumping up and down in the middle of the street.

He always got what he wanted.

***

Hyunjin tightened his tie, frowning. He always did hate wearing suits. Its part of the reason why he gave up being an attorney. He much prefers his combat boots, camo pants, and black tshirts that have become his daily wardrobe while in the unit.

He gripped his briefcase filled with useless books he long ago had to memorize, and marched into the front doors of the hospital with the confidence of a model on the runway.

He then walked up to the administration desk and flashed the female employees a small and gentle smile he knows will get him through any situation with ease.

“Hi, my name is hwang hyunjin and im the new attorney assigned to work here. Do you know where I need to go to get started?” he swiped his hands quickly through his light brown hair for good effect, knowing females (and males, nobody could resist him) like it when his forehead shows slightly.

The female employees watched the movement like hawks, not taking their eyes off of hyunjin. Neither of them said anything for a few moments, at a total loss for words. Then one of them managed to regain their senses, speaking up.

“ah, that would be down the hallway and to your right. You should be able to see an office door that leads to your department.” She weakly pointed for hyunjin.

He flashed her another smile and walked in the direction she pointed. He resisted the urge to giggle on how easy that was.

As he turned the corner, he stopped abruptly. There was mayhem all around him, as expected of the only local hospital in the area for miles. Nurses were bustling about, paperwork scattered everywhere, computer monitors on carts in the middle of the hallways, patients coming in and out of rooms, and doctors arguing with each other at the long desks that were stationed lining the hallways. nurse assistants and other employees were looking at more computer screens at the desk, monitoring even more patients on other floors and rooms around the hospital. He loosened his tie slightly, taking a deep breath, not even sure where to begin taking a step in this chaos.

He needed to be at his department soon, but he couldn’t find the door the administration employee was talking about. He debated asking someone, but everyone seemed to be busy and in the zone, he would feel kind of bad stopping someone.

He stood there in the middle of nowhere for a few minutes, just taking everything in and debating his next move. He knows he could ask any female and they would be more than willing to help him, but then he would unintentionally have to get to know them. They always try to strike a conversation with him in the hopes that he would stay and talk just a few moments longer. It’s why he has to be nice sometimes, but down-right rude other times. And he would much prefer avoiding that kind of situation on his first day.

Plus he has the problem of finding his newest assignment, learning his schedule, his routine, everything about him.

He sighed again, and took his first step into the world he never wanted to be a part of.

And then bumped right into someone, his briefcase dropping out of his hand. his physique was more built than he looks, and the other person fell on the ground scattering papers around him.

“ouch.” He hears a mutter, “what are you? A tank?” the person complained, rubbing his nose that hyunjin probably smacked into by accident.

Hyunjin bent down, apologies at the tip of his tongue, when the guy finally moved his hand away from his nose and glanced at hyunjin with annoyance on his face.

_Well ill be damned. Kim Seungmin._

Hyunjin was never one for luck, but he was whooping with joy that he didn’t even have to try and look for the doctor in this mess of people.

Putting on all his charm he knew would literally make him ooze sex appeal to everyone within a 15 foot radius, he smiled at seungmin. first impressions were always important.

“Ah, im so sorry. It was honestly an accident, I didn’t see you there.” Hyunjin looked up at the younger boy from under his lashes in a way he knows would make photographers cry from the perfection in his face.

Seungmin merely blinked at hyunjin, and then frowned slightly at his papers all around him. he got up from the floor, dusted off his long white coat, and started picking up his papers in a hurry. He started rambling fast, “oh, its fine. not a problem at all. It was more my fault. I was looking at some of these lab values and I didn’t notice you just standing there like a statue.”

hyunjin interrupted his rambling, “no, its my fault. Here, let me help you with those.” As he picked up some of the papers to hand back to seungmin, he brushed his hand on the younger’s, letting his fingertips linger a little longer than necessary.

seungmin didn’t seem to notice, grabbing his papers and organizing them back on his clipboard. “thanks.” He looked up at hyunjin finally, gave a stiff smile and began to walk away. “see you. Try and be careful where you stand next time,” then he tried to step around hyunjin and continue where he was going.

Hyunjin frowned. He usually was able to stop anyone in their tracks for a solid 4 minutes, _at least_. He knows; he timed someone once. He and minho made a bet on who could make someone’s heart flutter the most. He won, but just barely. Minho’s attitude tends to offset the impact his looks have on people.

Hyunjin honestly needed help, and he obviously needs to up the charms to a solid 6/10 now to get seungmin’s attention. If he went any higher, seungmin might faint from being so love struck, that's how much confidence he has. So he stepped in front of the hurrying doctor, flashing a sheepish grin, showing his teeth and letting his eyes crinkle a little in affection.

“im actually one of the new attorneys for this hospital, and I was wondering if you could show me where the department is? The administration staff told me it should be down this hallway somewhere.”

Seungmin looked up at hyunjin, completely unaffected by hyunjin’s smile. He sighed slightly and looked down at his watch. “yeah I guess I have a few minutes to spare. But not much. Follow me,” he said matter of factly. Hyunjin pursed his lips in confusion. Seems he’s going to have to try a bit harder next time.

“thank you so much! Nobody here seems like the helping type, it can get a bit intimidating.” He giggled, following the younger, matching his pace to his.

“yeah, we are all pretty busy. But you will get used to it.” seungmin explained as he power walked to the hospital’s law department not too far from where they were.

After a few more moments, seungmin stopped in front of a plain looking door that lead to a bigger area. There were glass windows with curtains looking into the department. He held his arm up, indicating for hyunjin to go on ahead.

“this is your department. Glad I could help. Good luck. K bye.” And then he spun on his heel and began to power walk back the way he came.

Hyunjin felt bad for bothering the obviously busy doctor, but he couldn’t let this opportunity escape him. “wait!” he took a few steps closer to him, refraining the urge to grab onto the doctor’s arm. He was getting slightly annoyed. Nobody has ever given him so little attention before.

Seungmin stopped, looking back at hyunjin with his eyebrows raised in question. He didn’t look annoyed, but he did look tired at being stopped for a third time. Or was it the fourth?

“yes? You need help with anything else?”

Hyunjin decided to be bold rather than play hard to get like he usually does.

“do you happen to know where there are any good coffee places around here? You know, to get while i'm on break?” he pouted his lips, hoping that would gain him some favor.

Seungmin just looked thoughtful for a minute, and then smiled. Hyunjin watched his smile form on his face with a little more interest than usual. “yeah, actually. There is a bakery on the way here down the street. It’s my friend chan’s. he makes great pastries and has the best coffee. You new here?”

“oh! That sounds wonderful!” hyunjin jumped with joy, clasping his hands in front of him. “yeah, I’ve never been here before. Could you maybe show me sometime?” he knows he shouldn’t get too close to his assignment, but it was just coffee. Plus he could semi keep an eye on woojin’s assignment while he’s at it. he recognized the name immediately when seungmin spoke it.

Seungmin shrugged, “I guess. But just to show you the way. Maybe later this week. Now I really have to go. Have a nice day, uhm?”

“oh! My name is hyunjin!” hyunjin swiped his hand through his hair again for extra effect.

Seungmin looked back with a bored expression. “nice to meet you hyunjin, im seungmin. see you around.” and then he turned and was gone within the crowd.

Hyunjin watched him disappear with purpose to his step. A small smile curled at the side of his mouth.

_Hmm._

***

Woojin sighed for the tenth time. He was sitting in chan’s bakery, seated at a small but comfy table off to the side towards the back. He had a perfect view of chan all morning, watching and making sure he doesn’t get mugged or something.

Honestly, doesn’t the guy ever take a break? This whole time he hopped from baking occasional breads and pastries, to making fresh coffee and other warm drinks in this cold weather, to taking care of customers as they streamed through the main door, to arranging and rearranging displays of cookies and cakes all around the bakery. He also seems to love flowers because he was constantly humming a soft tune while fixing the little vases in the center of all of his tables for the customers. He also spent 20 minutes debating whether to switch the little vases for glass jars of warm unscented candles surrounded by petals.

Woojin preferred the glass jars with candles and petals, in his opinion.

All of that occurred in the span of 4 hours. woojin walked in naturally at 8am, even though the bakery opens up 6am, and he has been sitting in the same seat sipping at his coffee, occasionally ordering a cup every hour. Its only 10am!

He debated back and forth how to be around chan without seeming suspicious, but he was drawing up a blank. At least minho and hyunjin had it easy being around their assignments, minho being jisung’s neighbor and hyunjin working in the same hospital. He’s not sure how felix is faring at the moment, but he will ask him later.

***

Chan glanced over at the dark brown haired male sitting at one of his tables for a few hours now, watching him sigh yet again. Chan studied the boy, and his eyes softened at the bored expression on his face.

He leaned against his countertop on one of his hands, tilting his head and debating. Chan realizes quickly that he appears to be stuck in one of those life changing or altering moments you see all the time in movies. Time seemed to stop as he stared.

Should he ask him? Is it a risk he’s willing to take? Will he regret this later?

Better yet, will he regret it even more if he didn’t ask him?

As his grandmother would say to him, "you never know until you try.”

With his mind made up, he stood up straight and walked out from behind the counter.

***

Woojin gulped as he watched chan walk over. Was he too obvious? Did he look creepy just watching chan discreetly this whole time? He totally does, he knew it.

As he was panicking, chan walked calmly over to woojin, a bright smile on his face.

“hi!” he said excitedly. “I couldn’t help but notice you sitting here, and I just had to ask you something.”

Woojin calmed down slightly, glad that chan wasn’t kicking him out for loitering in his bakery. “uhm, sure. Go ahead.”

“right. So my name is Bang Chan, and I own this bakery here.” Woojin nodded as if he didnt know this already, prompting him to continue. “And as you can see, I get a lot of customers every day, all day. It’s honestly getting too much for me to handle. And so I was wondering if you would like a part time job working here?” Chan looked at woojin expectantly, pleading with his eyes.

Woojin just blinked up at him, at a total loss for words.

“oh! If you have the time of course. The hours are super flexible and the pay is good. I honestly just need someone for a few hours each day to kind of take the load off my hands.” Chan continued to explain, laughing anxiously.

“uhh…with all due respect, and im not complaining, but do you always just randomly ask strangers to come work for you? Plus, don’t I need to have some kind of experience in baking?”

Chan looked at him, “well can you?”

“can I what?”

“bake.” Chan said simply.

“I mean, yeah I can cook a little. Plus im a fast learner.” Woojin answered dumbly.

Chan clapped his hands and smiled affectionately at woojin. “perfect! Come work for me?”

Woojin smiled softly despite himself, “you are serious? You seriously want me to work for you? A complete stranger that you have never met before?”

Chan nodded enthusiastically. “of course! I can just tell you seem like a nice person. So, can you come early tomorrow so I can show you how everything works?”

Woojin couldn’t believe this was happening. But this was the ‘in’ he needed to be near chan. He shrugged nonchalantly. “sure, I guess. I’ll come an hour before you open. Would that be fine?”

Chan did a little happy dance. “that’s perfect! Thank you so much hyung! Oh! I hope you don’t mind me dropping the honorifics.”

Woojin laughed at chan’s odd but dorky behavior. “yeah, its not a problem.”

Chan winked, and then began to walk away back to the counter. “see you tomorrow, woojin hyung!”

Woojin began to get up, intending to leave since he obviously overstayed his welcome. “yeah, see you chan.” And he gave a little wave to chan as he walked out of the door, the little bell at the top chiming with the movement.

As he got further down the street, he stopped in his tracks frowning.

Did he ever mention to chan his name?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Me Too" by Meghan Trainor
> 
> I honestly laughed while listening to this song, and so I based Minho, Felix, and Hyunjin on this.  
> Well, actually mostly hyunjin, but the other two kind of fit the song as well.


	5. Oh My Black Heart

felix leaned against the counter top drumming his fingers in boredom. He started working at changbin’s music store a few days ago, but the older locked himself up in his back room doing stupid billing and management or whatever.

Honestly, this place was _no fun_. Don’t get him wrong, it was a really nice music store. it was all hardwood floors and shelves, giving it a rustic but warm feeling. CDs, records, and vinyls lined the different sized shelves, and posters of various artists were hung up high near the ceiling. On top of that, changbin had long glass windows put in at the front of the store that let in the natural sunlight. Speakers were found attached to the upper corners of the store that softly played a mix of music. The stereo was behind the counter next to felix.

Felix glanced to the hallway that lead to the back room, and then glanced back at the almost empty music store. it was a slow going day, with only a handful of customers coming through the doors.

It appears that even though changbin is a great business owner, his attitude really does keep most people away. There was some truth to the teenager’s words from before.

Felix took the pencil he was using earlier and spun it in his fingers. He was always thinking of ways to entertain himself, pent up energy built up inside of him ready for action.

The music playing on the stereo was nice but too soft, putting felix to sleep. By now, there were no more customers at the moment in the store.

And then an idea struck him. he stood up straight and grinned. Then he grabbed his phone and went to work trying to hook it up to the stereo’s surround sound system.

***

Changbin was sitting at his desk, his silver glasses sliding down slightly to the tip of his nose while he went through the month’s earnings. suddenly, he started to hear a heavy base thumping from his store out front. He frowned, pushing up his glasses and ignored the sound, until it went on for 15 more minutes.

Then he heard a joyous laugh and a bunch of giggling. Curious despite himself, he sighed in annoyance and got up, heading to the front of the store. this was felix’s first week and already he was causing a ruckus, giving him a headache.

When he entered the front of the store, he stopped in his tracks stunned at what he saw. There was his new employee, blasting some kind of kpop on the surround sound speakers, and dancing as he swept the floor, singing along and using the broomstick as a microphone. A few customers came in, a mother and her daughter, and giggled at the sight of felix. Felix danced over to the little girl and grabbed her little hands, twirling her to the beat of the music.

They both laughed, only stopping when the mother asked felix for some help with an album she came looking to buy. Felix lead them over to the section she needed, and also found the album he was currently playing throughout the store. it appears that the daughter wanted the kpop music to dance to when she goes home.

After they were gone, the store was empty again, the sounds of felix’s obnoxious singing adding to the noise. Changbin smoothly walked over to the stereo behind the counter and turned down the music, getting felix’s attention.

“what are you doing?” he asked the younger, glaring through his glasses.

Felix paused, blinking at changbin. then he shook his head slightly. “Singing and dancing,” felix answered boldly, giving changbin a bright smile. He was in such a good mood that talking to his grumpy assignment wasn’t even a downer on him in this moment.

Changbin frowned, “and what are you playing on my surround sound?”

“Twice. You know, the girl kpop group?” felix answered, chewing on his bottom lip. Changbin really didn’t look happy.

“I know who Twice is. Don’t you know any other genres of music?” changbin crossed his arms in front of him, unintentionally looking intimidating despite his height.

“does kpop count?” felix asked in fake innocence, snickering a little.

Changbin pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to get rid of his raging headache. “so let me get this straight. You just randomly took control of my carefully mixed playlist on my stereo without permission, and decided to blast girl kpop songs through the speakers at an obnoxious volume. And then you preceded to dance and sing like an idiot while cleaning. Am I missing anything?”

“nope! That sounds about it. I was bored,” felix shrugged, not caring what the older thought of him. he was having more fun knowing it bothered changbin.

Changbin simply just shook his head, and walked away. Technically, felix didn’t do anything wrong so he couldnt really reprimand him.

Felix laughed and switched songs, returning to what he was doing.

Changbin rolled his eyes as he entered his office, listening to felix’s laugh echo down the hallway. _Oh great, now he’s playing Red Velvet._

***

Hyunjin’s upper lip curled in slight irritation, but disappeared as soon as it came. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as yet _another_ group of people crowded him in the hospital hallway every time he emerges from his department doors.

He knows that the humans can’t help but be drawn to his looks, but god damn its irritating when he doesn’t actually need anything from them at the moment.

Normally he’s a very patient person, even basking in all of the attention he receives everywhere he goes, but this time it’s different. He needs to be near seungmin to protect him, and he can’t do that if there is a wall of bodies separating them.

He gave a tight smile to someone (he forgot their name because they weren't important enough) who was currently inviting him to lunch in a vain attempt to get closer to him. he shook his head and politely declined, inching forward down the hallway. Another person took their place and began asking pretty much the same question, everyone fighting to take turns for hyunjin’s attention.

He didn’t pay them any mind, his eyes wandering to the end of the hallway where it intersects with another hallway from the other direction.

_Any minute now._

In just a few more seconds, seungmin should be briskly walking by, on his way to lunch at exactly 12:15pm every afternoon. Then exactly 45 minutes later, he returns for his afternoon shift. Depending on the day, he will sometimes leave when he’s supposed to, which is 3:15pm, but if it’s a busy day he will stay for another shift until 11pm.

Being so punctual, it really made hyunjin’s job somewhat easier. He’s only been assigned to seungmin for a week and already has his schedule down pat.

He quickened his steps, wanting to shove everyone away from him.

He almost did just that when he saw seungmin finally walk past, looking at more papers and muttering under his breath right on time. Hyunjin outright refused any other people talking to him, and excused himself abruptly and quite rudely. Then he jogged up behind the younger, tapping him on his shoulder.

Seungmin startled a little, and turned to face hyunjin with confusion in his eyes.

“yes?” he asked the older.

Hyunjin gave him a sweet smile. “hi seungmin! its hyunjin, remember?”

Seungmin looked at hyunjin’s apparel up and down. today he was wearing a dark gray suit and light pink dress shirt with a matching gray and pink striped tie. He knows this particular suit looks great on him, hugging his body in all the right places. He styled his hair to the side, gently sweeping his bangs off his forehead.

“you’re not wearing a white coat… Ah! You must be that new attorney from a few days ago. Sorry, I was so busy I almost forgot about you.” Seungmin finally replied. Hyunjin’s smile faltered. Once someone has seen his face, nobody, and he means _nobody_ , has ever forgotten him.

And for some reason, it pissed him off that seungmin was obviously _not_ checking him out, but checking to see if he was wearing a white coat or a name tag or whatever it is health professionals wear.

“oh, don’t worry about it!” hyunjin gritted his teeth, forcing the words to sound soft and embarrassed. “I was actually wondering if you were still willing to show me that new bakery place you mentioned before that your friend owns. I could really go for some coffee right about now, and I just so happened to see you walk by randomly…” hyunjin let his words trail, giving seungmin an innocent puppy look.

Seungmin studied hyunjin’s face for a few moments, making him feel nervous. He was used to be people staring at him, but for some reason when seungmin looks at him it feels like he can see right through him. hyunjin resisted the urge to shift on his feet.

Seungmin seemed to make up his mind about something, glancing down at his watch in the process. “I guess I have the time today. I technically got ahead on my rounds this morning and can take a longer lunch today. Plus, I did say I would show you.”

Without knowing it, Hyunjin smiled a wide and genuine smile while watching seungmin logically make his decision out loud. for some reason, he enjoyed seeing how the younger boy thinks.

Seungmin stopped talking once he made up his mind, nodding to himself in the process. He was about to turn back around and march in a different direction now that he was leaving the hospital to go visit chan’s bakery across the street, but he stopped when he glanced up at hyunjin again.

Hyunjin watched as a soft smile spread on seungmin’s face.

“ah, that’s better.” He told hyunjin out of the blue.

“what’s better?” hyunjin asked, curious once again to know what he was thinking.

“your smile. I like this one a lot better than all of the others.” And then seungmin turned and started walking towards the exit, expecting hyunjin to follow him.

Hyunjin stood in his spot for a few moments, stunned as his eyes followed seungmin walking with confidence to the doors outside.

Maybe seungmin did notice him after all.

***

Woojin was exhausted.

Its already been almost a week since he started working for chan at his bakery each morning. That part isn’t so bad, but each night chan goes out to a club of some kind where he does underground rapping, or producing, or composing or whatever.

It makes woojin’s job that much harder, always on the lookout and ready to jump in and protect chan just in case something natural or supernatural decides to attack him. on top of that, he has to blend in as best he can so chan wouldn’t notice him follow him home each night.

Woojin has maybe gotten like 45 minutes of sleep each night so far. after chan goes to bed in his apartment, woojin spends a little more time checking the perimeter and making sure his assignment stayed safe while sleeping the few hours before he goes to open up the bakery. He's a wreck and he knows it. how does chan manage to continue being so bright and energetic? Anybody who knows chan would realize that he's clearly tired, but he just keeps on going.

Once the morning crowd was calming down around 9:30 in the morning, woojin had a moment to breathe. He leaned against the front counter near the cash register, watching chan flit back and forth refilling the display cases with little pastries of some kind.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes, trying not to collapse on the spot.

Chan stood up, finished with his task of the hour, and glanced up at woojin. He smiled softly at the older boy and then went into the back kitchen.

Woojin grumbled under his breath. Chan really is too nice for his own good. Which also makes his job way harder than it needs to be since chan is always surrounded by people. At least felix has it easy since no one ever wants to approach moody changbin.

After about 10 minutes, chan comes back from the kitchen carrying a small tray with a delicate glass tea cup and a pot of brewed tea. Chan gently placed it down in front of woojin, motioning for him to have some.

“what's this for?” woojin asks.

“tea I made for you.” Chan answers simply.

Woojin chuckled despite himself. “well obviously, but why did you make just _me_ some?”

Chan gives him a wide smile, showing his adorable dimples that woojin always loves to see. _What? No you don’t. they are not adorable._

“you looked tired, and plus you haven’t been sleeping much recently, barely getting an hour a night. So this tea is to help you gain some of your energy back and make you feel better.”

Woojin looked down at the pot of tea that was obviously made with care. He looked back up at chan and smiled. “well, thank you. You didn’t have to do this, you know.” And then he started pouring himself a glass. When he sipped it, his eyebrows rose in a pleasant surprise. It was delicious. No wonder everyone raves about chan’s coffee and drinks here at the bakery.

“I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to.” Chan muttered back as he moved to fix one of the napkin holders that seemed to get jammed from one of the customers earlier.

Woojin watched him fuss around some more as he drank the tea. The bakery was quiet with no customers at the moment. But it didn’t feel awkward with chan, both of them content in a companionable silence.

The tea really did seem to help woojin perk back up for the rest of the day. It was exactly what he needed after the unusual and unhealthy schedule he has now. In fact, if chan hadn’t given him this right when he did, he would have almost fallen asleep on the job! That would have been so embarrassing, especially since he was a professional agent specially trained to handle any situation thrown at him.

Woojin smiled to himself as he served more customers a few hours later during the lunch crowd. It was as he was wiping away powdered sugar that dusted the countertops that a thought suddenly occurred to him.

_Wait, how did chan know I was only getting an hour of sleep a night?_

***

Jisung was debating whether it would be quicker to end his life by taking a nose-dive down the stairs or jumping off the roof.

As he made his way to his apartment door, he heard what he was dreading these few minutes before coming home. Someone’s footsteps were right behind his, heading up the stairs in the same direction. And since only two people lived in this building, he can take a wild guess as to who was behind him.

Lee fucking Minho.

_The stairs are a no go today. Looks like it’s the roof then._

But before he could take a step and dart out of the way, he heard that irritating melodic voice that feels like nails on a chalkboard.

“hiya jisungie! Fancy meeting you here!” minho came up to him, passing and heading the few feet to his own apartment door.

“I told you to stop calling me that!” jisung hissed out, glaring at minho. For some reason, minho manages to get home at _exactly_ the same time as jisung every day now for a week. He’s always carrying a gym bag with him though and coming back in sports clothes of some kind, so he must be athletic in some way.

_Well of course he’s athletic, you’ve seen him without his shirt on and oh my._

As soon as that thought came into his mind, he banged his head harshly on his door. _No, bad jisung. Don’t think about those poisonous thoughts._

He glared again at minho, seemingly unaware of his internal struggle as he took a swig out of his water bottle. Jisung couldn’t help but stare as minho drank his water, watching some sweat drip down from his hairline to his neck and under the collar of his shirt. Jisung licked his lips.

Minho glanced at him and capped his water bottle, a mischievous smirk curling the sides of his mouth as he ran his tongue over his top teeth.

Jisung suddenly couldn’t breathe.

He jammed his key into his lock and smashed his door open, stepping inside abruptly. Then he slammed it back shut in a ‘fuck you’ kind of way (it really seems to be his signature move these days), just barely able to hear a light evil cackle next door as minho entered his own apartment.

Jisung gritted his teeth in hatred and threw his keys onto his counter, heading to his bathroom to wash his reddening face with cool water. Minho totally knew what he was doing to him! he _so_ did it on purpose!

Jisung was embarrassed. Not for admiring what was obviously a fine piece of ass (he’s not totally blind), but because he got caught (again) while doing it.

As his thoughts were swimming with hatred towards a certain good looking neighbor, he heard the shower next door turn on. Minho always showered as soon as he was done working out, or whatever it was that he does.

Jisung bit his lip, his mind wandering to not so innocent thoughts as he listened to the shower going. he seemed to be fighting an internal struggle with himself...

And then he did it.

he honestly doesn’t know what came over him. normally he was a nice and boisterous person, making friends with everyone effortlessly. But there was just something about lee minho that irked the hell out of him.

All of that pent up frustration resulted in him pushing down on the little lever to the side without regret.

He flushed the toilet. _Three times_ to be exact.

He waited a few seconds, and then he heard it through his paper thin walls.

“yaahhhhhh!! What the fuck?!”

Jisung smiled evilly. But then he heard the shower next door turn off abruptly, and he wiped the smile off his face.

“Han Jisung, you son of a bitch!”

_Uh oh._

Jisung immediately pulled out his cell phone and called up changbin and chan and moved to his kitchen.

“hyung, I need you to know that if I die, which is very likely in the next 30 seconds, you cant have anything I own. It all goes to seungmin and chan.” He whisper yelled into the phone to changbin.

_“jisung, why the hell are you calling me and chan in the middle of working hours? Do you want me to murder you?!”_ changbin rasped through the line.

_“Actually, I was on break and just cleaning up, so i'm free to talk.”_ Chan budded in.

Jisung wrung his hands together, holding the phone between his ear and shoulder, glancing at his door worriedly.

Then he heard stomping out in the hallway and minho banging on his door. “Han jisung you little shit! Open up this instant!”

“you guys, I'm just letting you know that I want white roses at my funeral.”

_“oh no, sungie what did you do to your poor neighbor this time?”_ chan consoled him.

“how did you know I did something to minho?” jisung wondered for a second, but then went on the defense, “hey! It wasn’t my fault he drank a water bottle all suggestive-like and gave me ‘fuck me’ eyes while glistening with sweat and trying to seduce me like the witch that he is!”

The line was silent for a split second, and the banging on his door increased.

changbin was the first to speak up.

_“fuck you jisung. You’re getting grass thrown on your casket as I kick it down a hill. Now quit bothering me,”_ changbin grumbled on the other end as jisung heard him moving around. and then, _“dammit felix! Why the hell are there_ doilies _underneath the CD holders?!”_ changbin yelled into the phone. Jisung could just barely hear someone answer back in a deep voice and a giggle, _“because hyung. It brightens the place up a bit, don’t you think?_ ” and then jisung and chan heard a click as he hung up, still yelling at his new employee.

“well, good luck sungie. Don’t die.” Chan said, hanging up the phone with a soft chuckle.

The banging on his door stopped. Jisung tip-toed to the door, pressing his ear against it and listened. He didn’t hear anything on the other side, and breathed a sigh of relief.

“I heard that.” someone said on the other side, making jisung jump with a slight squeak.

It seems the coast was _not_ clear.

He reluctantly unlatched his lock and opened his door. Putting on his doe-like eyes, he batted his lashes innocently at minho.

“hi hyung! Did you need anything?” he pretended, as if he didn’t know why the older was staring angrily at him with his arms crossed. Jisung gulped, his eyes gliding over minho again. He seemed to have hastily thrown on a sleeveless shirt and was wearing his boxers, barefoot in the middle of the hallway.

“eyes up here.” Minho snapped. Jisung flicked his eyes, which were currently admiring minho’s forearms, back up to minho’s.

Minho huffed. “what happened to working around each other’s schedules? You obviously knew I was in the shower and made it freezing cold!”

Jisung glanced away guiltily. “uhh, I had to shit?”

Minho looked at him incredulously, “I can totally hear the lie, you are going to have to do a bit better than that jisung.”

Jisung shivered at the way he says his name. and he hates himself for the way he reacts to it every time.

So jisung did what he does best: he slammed the door.

But minho was wise to his ways now, and caught it with incredible strength and speed before it could click shut, yanking it open and stepping into jisung’s doorway so they were only a few inches apart. Jisung panicked, but he will be damned if he stepped away like some frightened animal. He glared right back at minho, meeting him full on, his chin slightly lifted in defiance.

“why should I have to tell you the reasons for me flushing my toilet?” he spat out. minho quirked an eyebrow at him, finding it amusing how he immediately went on the defense further proving that jisung did it on purpose.

“why are you flushing your toilet on purpose just to mess with my shower?” he countered. “if you wanted my attention, all you had to do was invite me over.” Minho purred with a smirk.

Jisung’s lip curled in what he hoped was disgust. “I would never invite you over, so don’t get your hopes up.”

Minho stepped closer, invading jisung’s personal space. “really? Could’ve fooled me earlier while practically panting in the middle of the hallway with ‘come hither’ eyes.” minho leaned in closer, and decided to risk trailing his fingertips up jisung’s arm while staring into jisung’s eyes and watching his pupils dilate. To minho’s surprise, he didn’t cringe or back away at the touch.

Jisung’s breath hitched, and he briefly glanced down at minho’s lips. But he caught himself and looked back up to minho’s eyes quickly.

It was too late. Minho noticed and knew exactly what he was thinking, his shit eating grin being proof enough for jisung.

Jisung took the unspoken challenge for what it was, and stepped into minho so that they were chest to chest. He glared at minho with daggers in his eyes as he let minho trail his fingertips back down his arm and then gently moving to his waist.

Minho decided right then and there that he liked touching jisung, his golden skin on fire underneath his fingers. He wanted to continue to play this game with the blonde, but then his phone in his pocket rang breaking the moment.

Jisung backed away and minho instantly missed his heat. He picked his phone out of his pocket. before he answered the call, he gave jisung one last look that promised retribution. “Don’t think I forgot about what you did. This means war, jisung.” he declared to the younger boy. jisung tsked at him with attitude.

Then he backed out of jisung’s doorway, and turned to go into his apartment, clicking the door shut softly. he listened to make sure jisung shut his own door and lock it before talking into the phone.

“felix, this better be a damn good reason for calling me.”

_“glasses minho. He wears silver framed glasses!”_

“huh?” minho breathed out, completely confused. Felix likes to spout out random nonsense all of the time and it takes minho a few seconds to follow along with what he’s saying.

_“you know what cute boys in glasses does to me minho.”_

“im assuming you found out changbin wears glasses. I thought he looked like a murderer to you though? Did you find his people-fridge yet?” he teased.

_“minho this isn’t funny! First of all, he came to work in a skin tight black tshirt, and his arms, ohmygod. But then the latest shipment came in, so I asked him to pick up a heavy box since im supposed to be like super weak and fragile right? And then he bent over right in front of me, like uhm hello? Yum. and picked the box up so effortlessly even though im probably like 100 times stronger than him, and he likes to wear skin tight black jeans that cling to him in all of the right places and…and where was I going with this again?”_ felix ended his ramble.

“he was wearing glasses, felix.” Minho supplied helpfully, sighing in defeat.

_“oh right! Well he just comes walking out with the phone to his ear not too long ago, and then yelled at me because he thinks the doilies I put under his CD cases look dumb, and in conclusion I think im going to push him to the floor and jump him. Or against the wall, you know im not that picky. And so I called you for back up once woojin finds out because I just know he’s going to be so pissed.”_

Minho rubbed his temples. “felix, you know we cant get that close to them. We are simply here to watch them and make sure nothing happens to them in their _normal daily lives_. They aren’t meant to get caught up in our world. What do you think is going to happen once we are gone in a few years, or sooner? You cant just disappear on changbin randomly.”

Felix sighed on the other end. _“you’re right. Besides, changbin still irritates me for some reason. I cant stand working for him. I guess ill talk to you later then.”_ And then minho heard felix hang up the phone, muttering more curses at changbin.

Minho sucked in a deep breath. Like he was one to preach. If felix saw him 5 minutes ago with jisung, he would totally go off on him. minho honestly has no idea what came over him. some twisted part of him likes seeing jisung glare right at him, giving him his complete attention, his eyes only on him.

Minho shut his eyes and focused on his breathing _. You cant get close to them. You cant get close to them._

But then his mind wandered, remembering the looks jisung gives him every time he comes near.

_Oh no._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Black Heart" by UNB


	6. Siberia

“hi woojinnie hyung!” hyunjin whisper shouted, grinning at the older dark haired boy. he was currently at chan’s bakery with seungmin during their lunch break. For the _third time_ , might he add. He can honestly say that he didn’t even do it out of obligation. Seungmin was just so fascinating whenever he thought out loud in front of hyunjin in that adorable way of his.

Woojin looked up at hyunjin, giving him a slight warning in his eyes to quiet down a little. Chan walked back out of the kitchen with their drinks, making woojin’s shoulders tense up. Hyunjin quirked an eyebrow in interest as he waited for woojin to ring up his and seungmin’s orders so he can pay and return to the younger boy.

Chan handed hyunjin his drinks, “here you go hyunjinnie. Warm milk tea for you and chamomile tea for seungmin.” he gave hyunjin such a huge dimpled smile that hyunjin didn’t even care about the nickname chan gave to him without permission. There really is no denying chan when he is the nicest most caring person on the planet. “and I added extra milk in it for you.” He gave hyunjin a wink and then returned to the back kitchen.

Hyunjin stared at chan with a stunned expression on his face. how did he know he liked extra milk in his tea?

Woojin sighed in defeat and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation.

Hyunjin chuckled, and decided to forget about it thinking it was probably a coincidence. He spun around and returned to his table where seungmin was reading a chart filled with the information for his patients for the rest of the day.

“hey, you’re on break with me. Put those away.” He playfully teased him, while sliding seungmin’s tea towards him. seungmin ignored him, grabbing for his tea without looking up. That irritated hyunjin slightly, and he wanted the other boy to pay more attention to him.

“to be honest, I was surprised about you.” Hyunjin told him. that got seungmin’s attention.

“how so?” seungmin inquired, wincing at how hot his tea was.

Hyunjin leaned in closer across the table with a playful smile, staring into seungmin’s eyes. Seungmin didn’t even get flustered, just staring back at hyunjin with genuine curiosity. “hmm. Well for starters, I thought you would be the type to drink actual coffee since you work so hard at the hospital. But then I find out that your ‘usual’ here is a simple cup of whatever green tea chan decides to make you. Today its chamomile. Last time it was vanilla. The time before that it was peppermint.”

Seungmin snorted obnoxiously. “I don’t particularly care for coffee. It makes my mind feel a bit fuzzy from all of the caffeine. But I do drink it sometimes. I prefer tea though.” He took another sip since it cooled down a little bit. “im surprised you remembered my past orders.”

To be honest, he was too. He never took the time out to notice things about other people. Instead of responding, he hummed and sipped his milk tea, sighing in content. Chan really does make the best he’s ever had. Seungmin smiled at hyunjin’s look of bliss, and went back to his paperwork.

Hyunjin watched him for a few minutes while he finished his drink. Then he asked what has been on his mind this whole time. “so, you’re a doctor right?” seungmin looked up at hyunjin again.

“technically yes. I have my license as a doctor, but im a resident at the moment.”

Hyunjin nodded, “ok, I know you’re busy, but why are you always working way above and beyond what you have to do?” seungmin just blinked at him, staring. It made hyunjin slightly nervous again, so he quickly added, “im just curious. I’ve noticed that even though you don’t get a ton of patients, you still are extremely busy working your ass off. You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to, though.”

Seungmin listened to hyunjin ramble, and sighed while rubbing his tired eyes. He decided to let his guard down slightly and tell the older boy the truth. “to be honest, the other employees in the hospital don’t really like me.”

Hyunjin interjected, “what? Why not?” seungmin was always kind. a bit snarky at times, but always kind to his patients and the other employees. He never causes trouble, and is extremely intelligent.

Seungmin chuckled without humor. “there are many reasons. One, its because I graduated earlier than everyone else and was hired over older, more experienced doctors. Another reason is because im so young. My patients don’t trust me at first and always ask for a different doctor, despite my capabilities to take care of them. The ones I do have, I had to earn their trust the hard way. The last, and probably most obvious and ridiculous reason, would be because im an orphan from the system. I have no family name or prestige, and my background is not the greatest. People can’t help but judge and be wary of me.” Seungmin shrugged nonchalantly, as if this was common knowledge.

This made hyunjin extremely upset. How dare they judge someone simply because of their age and background? It explains why seungmin is extremely meticulous and guarded around other people. Hyunjin’s heart sympathized with the dark haired boy since he had to go through a similar thing. he decided that he was going to be his friend since everyone else were assholes.

“well, I say they are all pieces of shit and not worth your time. And once you start making the big bucks, you can run them over with your Lamborghini or whatever really expensive car is in these days.” He huffed, sipping the rest of his tea angrily with a pout on his face.

Seungmin watched him, and then started laughing. “well, that’s one way to show them. Only if you help me bury the bodies.”

Hyunjin gave him a stunning grin, “oh don’t worry. I think I can manage to help you with that.”

Seungmin thought he was joking.

***

As seungmin and hyunjin finished up their chat and were getting ready to leave, chan came over with a worried expression.

“are you heading back to work seungminnie?”

Seungmin nodded, “yeah, it was nice seeing you. I really should lay off the work and stop by more often with jisung.” He gave chan a quick hug.

As he began to pull away, chan held onto him a little longer saying, “be careful out there. I have a bad feeling about something.” seungmin leaned away and looked at chan with concern on his face, asking a silent question. Chan simply shook his head and stepped away.

With a somewhat forced smile, chan said goodbye to hyunjin and told them to stop by whenever they feel like it.

Seungmin left the bakery, the little bell chiming as the door closed. Hyunjin was only a few steps behind him.

“is everything ok with chan hyung?” he asked, curious on what that was about.

But seungmin never answered him because he all of a sudden stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and clutched his head in pain. Hyunjin was quick to react, coming closer. “are you okay? What’s wrong with your head? Is it a migraine?”

Seungmin shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. After a few more moments, his head shot up and he started running to the street’s intersection traffic light up ahead.

Hyunjin was startled by the abrupt behavior, and ran after him. “seungmin wait! Where are you going?!”

Seungmin ran as fast as he could, his coat trailing behind him. he headed straight for the busy street. Hyunjin’s eyes widened as he realized seungmin was going to run right in the middle of traffic.

_What the hell?_

Seungmin ignored hyunjin’s calls, and sprinted right towards the green light. It was a busy street and many cars were still passing by. Hyunjin panicked and picked up the pace slightly, still aware that he was among other humans who no doubt were watching them run like crazy people.

Right before seungmin could dash into the street and get crushed, hyunjin grabbed him out of the way, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind with an iron grip. He pulled seungmin back against his chest and stepped out of the street and back up onto the sidewalk at the same time. Seungmin continued to struggle to run out into the street, straining against hyunjin’s arms causing hyunjin to lose his balance on the curb and fall backward on his ass, bringing seungmin down with him to the ground.

Seungmin cried out, his hand held out in the direction of a bicyclist that was riding their bike across the street at the same time seungmin tried to run out into traffic. The bicyclist was about to get hit by a car.

Seungmin watched in horror as the car sped forward, and then he squeezed his eyes shut as the car crashed into the bicyclist, sending them into the air a few feet and then back down on the concrete with a smack.

“I could’ve saved them!” seungmin shouted, panting from running and struggling to get free.

Hyunjin’s heart was still beating fast at the near panic attack he had of seungmin almost getting hit by the car. He tightened his arms around the younger boy and yelled in his ear, “are you insane!? You could’ve died!”

There were people shouting all around them. Traffic stopped and some stepped out of their cars. Somebody must have called an ambulance because sirens could be heard in the near distance.  Hyunjin remained sitting on the hard concrete just inches away from the curb of the street. Seungmin’s back was smashed against his chest and he was sitting in between hyunjin’s legs. After giving up trying to break free from hyunjin’s hold, he spun around slightly glaring up at hyunjin.

“why did you stop me? If you didn’t drag me back I could’ve-“

“No.” hyunjin interrupted him, his voice like steel. “you wouldn’t have made it in time. The only thing you would have accomplished would be you getting hit along with them. Instead of one person injured, it would have been two.”

Seungmin continued to glare at hyunjin, his eyes watering slightly at the catastrophe that happened right in front of him. after a few more moments of his mini staring contest with huynjin, he sagged in defeat, knowing the older boy was right. He let out a shaky breath and turned back around, leaning into hyunjin. He was too shaken up to stand up just yet, and hyunjin’s arms were still caged around his waist.

Hyunjin’s gaze softened again, and he started gently running his fingers over seungmin’s arms and shoulders making sure he wasn’t injured from how harshly he grabbed the young doctor. He was desperate to get seungmin out of danger and didn’t have time to lessen his strength in the heat of the moment.

Seungmin didn’t pay any mind to hyunjin’s touch, instead watching the chaos still going on around them. Used to tragedies always happening around him, he composed himself again and tried to get up from the ground. “I should check on the bicyclist. I’m a doctor and could help.” He then glanced down at hyunjin’s arms circling his waist. “im fine now. You can let go of me.”

Hyunjin kept him pressed against him in a strong grip. “no way are you going out in the middle of that. the ambulance is here, police are here, and they are likely heading back to the hospital just down the street. You will only get in the way. I know you are a great doctor, but this time let someone else take care of it.”

Seungmin slumped completely against hyunjin, the fight and adrenaline leaving him. “ok.” He said softly. “just…let me stay here for a second to collect myself. Please?”

“take all of the time you need.” Hyunjin chuckled. He still didn’t move his arms away from his waist, craving the touch.

He just barely stopped himself from nuzzling the back of seungmin’s neck. Hyunjin was a very selfish being, always in constant need of affection and soft caresses to reassure him he was still living.

Usually the others made up for his constant craving, giving him what he wanted in an abundance of supply, especially felix and woojin. But you know what they say, the more the merrier.

***

“what happened to seungmin?!” changbin yelled on the phone. “is he okay?”

Felix was idly flipping through a magazine when he perked up at changbin’s phone conversation. He frowned, knowing seungmin was hyunjin’s cherished he should be guarding. If something happened to seungmin, then that means something happened to hyunjin too.

“I have no idea who this hyunjin is, but im glad they are okay. im closing up shop and will head right over.” Then changbin hung up and started gathering his coat and keys. He glanced at felix before he said, “my friend just almost got into a car accident near chan’s place. I’m closing early, so you can go home.”

“uh-uh. I’m not heading home. I heard you say ‘hyunjin’ and that so happens to be a friend of mine too who works over at the hospital near the bakery. I’m going with you.” Felix declared, hopping up and over the counter with ease.

Changbin quirked an eyebrow. “I hope you have a ride there then.”

Felix looked at him confused, “cant you just give me a lift?”

“not really.” He shrugged back.

Felix huffed, exasperated. “come on! Don’t be like that! give me a lift.”

Changbin shook his head, “cant you just get a ride from someone else?”

“yeah. Hyunjin. WHO ALMOST JUST DIED. So there goes that!” felix shouted out sarcastically. “if you don’t stop being an ass, im going to start crying. I swear I will.” Felix whined, eyes already tearing up.

Changbin started to panic at the look on felix’s face and held up his hands. “ok, ok. You don’t have to pull out the waterworks on me. I’m just saying, I don’t have a car.”

Felix sniffled, instantly stopping the tears that were about to roll down his cheeks. “then why do you have keys?”

Changbin sighed. “just follow me.” And he lead felix out the back door and around the building. Felix was so confused.

There, parked behind the building, was a black shiny motorcycle. Felix gasped. “you really are part of the mafia!” he said excitedly, clapping his hands. Hyunjin owed him 20 bucks now.

Changbin glared at felix with his signature look that he always gives whenever something annoys him. and when hes around felix, that’s quite often. “first of all, im not part of the mafia. Second, why the hell does that make you happy? And third, aren’t you, I don’t know, nervous that you are going to have ride behind me on a bike?”

Felix skipped over to the motorcycle, inspecting it with a low whistle. Then like an expert who has done this a million times, he swung his leg over and hopped on the back part. Changbin just gaped at him. felix giggled, admiring it and patting changbin’s seat near the front of the bike. “well come on! Take us there already, im sure they are waiting.”

Changbin shook himself out of the weirdest thing he has ever seen. A boy with pinkish hair wearing a light pink sweater and blue jeans, who cries to get what he wants and can barely lift weights at the gym, just hopped on his bike like it was a merry-go-round and told him to get a move on it. he honestly doesn't know what to make of this kid anymore.

He stepped closer, then he swung his leg over the bike and started it up, kicking up the kick stand. Felix was pressed behind him and was about to wrap his arms around his waist when changbin flinched.

“sorry, did I accidentally hit you?” felix asked worriedly when he felt changbin flinch. He has to watch his strength around normal people and sometimes forgets.

“no. im alright. Just try not to touch me as much as possible, if you don’t mind.” He said harshly, not looking at felix.

Felix let his arms hover in midair where he was going to place them around changbin, but now he doesn’t know what to do. Not to touch him as much as possible? I mean sure, he can hang on the bike no problems without even trying, but that’s not what a normal human would do and changbin might question it.

He was sitting behind changbin, and just now noticed that the smaller boy scooted up and away from felix as much as possible to avoid leaning into him. changbin had his head pointed down towards the ground, not saying anything.

“o…kay.” he answered back. Deciding he will tease him about it later and let it go for now, felix very gently clung onto the back of changbin’s shirt without touching him. that would have to suffice.

Satisfied, changbin took off down the street.

***

Thirty minutes later after the tragedy that occurred on the street not far from the bakery, felix and changbin came crashing into the place, soon followed by jisung and minho.

“out of my way you pieces of shit! My best friend just almost got smashed into a pancake and I am not okay with that!” jisung yelled as he barged through the door. He shoved changbin to the side.

“yah!” changbin glared at him as he regained his footing.

Jisung ran up to seungmin who was sitting at one of the tables with an empty cup of tea that chan made him. next to him was hyunjin, and woojin was hovering nearby. Chan closed up his place when he found out what happened, so there were no customers at the moment.

Jisung didn’t pay any mind to the other people in the room as he started patting seungmin all over. “what happened? Did someone try a hit and run on you? Want me to go touch every car out there to try and catch that bastard? Because so help me I will. Better yet, we can have changbin hunt them down. im sure he’s got some gangster friends prowling the streets somewhere. Or we can just throw changbin at them. Really, im okay with any of those options.” He rambled. Seungmin chuckled, gently slapping his hands away.

“im going to pretend I didn’t hear any of that, you good for nothing squirrel-" changbin started to rant, when he was interrupted by chan coming out from the back kitchen. He was carrying a tray with different drinks on it.

“ok! Looks like everyone is here.” He said, and then proceeded to hand out drinks to everyone. “another soothing chamomile tea for seungmin, milk tea with extra cream for hyunjin, changbin’s usual in a covered cup, jisung’s iced coffee with a shot of vanilla, minho’s iced Americano with extra ice, woojin’s chai tea latte, and felix’s melon boba tea with extra tapioca pearls. Am I missing anyone?” he dusted off his hands after everyone grabbed their drinks.

“oh yay! Melon is my favorite bubble tea!” felix shouted with glee, not realizing he has never met or introduced himself to chan before until now.

minho looked down at his drink. “how did you know…nevermind.” He was more worried for hyunjin at the moment. Thirty minutes ago, he and jisung were arguing again in their hallway when jisung got the call. He ran with the blonde as soon as he heard the news. Woojin is going to want to have a meeting with them later.

“So, what happened?” changbin asked seungmin. seungmin just simply cupped his warm tea and shook his head, not wanting to talk about what he saw. He didn’t want to admit how careless he was, almost throwing himself out in the middle of traffic in a fruitless attempt to save someone.

Luckily, he didn’t have to explain because hyunjin spoke up for the both of them. Seungmin prepared himself for the embarrassment and shame when his friends find out about his foolishness.

“we were walking near the street after visiting chan for break. A bicyclist went ahead of us, and then it happened so fast. The car hit them, and I pulled seungmin back in time. That’s all there really is to it. we are both still a bit shaken up by the tragedy that occurred.” Hyunjin shrugged.

Seungmin snapped his head up to hyunjin in surprise. _He covered for me? Why?_

Seungmin specifically ‘saw’ the bicyclist getting hit seconds before it was going to happen. He tried to fight the ache in his head, and took off running to try and save them, or at least crash into them to prevent them from getting hit.

But still it was useless. It was always useless.

Woojin glanced at hyunjin, knowing there was more to the story.

Chan also glanced in worry at seungmin while sitting next to him and rubbing his arm in comfort. “thank goodness hyunjin was with you.” Chan breathed out. seungmin was going to give him a heart attack one of these days if he kept this up. Hyunjin glanced at chan briefly before turning to minho and felix.

“hey guys! Glad you came. You didn’t have to though.”

Felix flung himself at hyunjin, almost knocking down his and seungmin’s drinks on the table. Hyunjin laughed and opened his arms catching the younger boy. felix nuzzled his neck and patted his cheeks, knowing hyunjin needed the touch to calm down.

“felix, don’t you dare start crying. You know im alright.” Hyunjin giggled. Felix started fanning his face to dry the oncoming tears. He cant help it. he was a sympathetic crier, and always got this way when he was overemotional.

“its just…we could have lost seungminnie, and like, you could’ve gotten hurt. And I know you would’ve been fine, but…but..” he hiccuped. Hyunjin laughed and pulled him in for another hug, causing felix to sit sideways in his lap comfortably.

Seungmin was taken aback by the nickname this soft and bubbly boy automatically gave him, but chose to just let it go. This felix person seemed like a nice enough guy, and he was good friends with hyunjin. He looked to hyunjin, the question already forming at the tip of his tongue, but changbin beat him to it.

“so, are they like, a thing?” he asked no one in particular as he watched hyunjin coo over felix and pinch his cheeks.

Minho burst out laughing, and it was honestly the best thing jisung has ever heard. Minho’s evil cackles through the paper thin walls didn’t count.

“god no!” minho snickered. “felix is a very touchy person, and hyunjin eats up the affection like its candy. They do this constantly on a daily basis, and nobody is safe from them.”

Hyunjin and felix turned their heads towards minho, grinning. Then felix swung his arm around hyunjin’s shoulders, hooking his finger under hyunjin’s chin and pointing his face upwards so that they were making eye contact.

“ive waited all this time for you, my love. You almost left me alone in this world.” Felix flirted.

Hyunjin placed his hand dramatically on felix’s cheek, staring into his eyes. “not even death can stop me from being with you. I would cross the heavens to come back to you.”

They continued to stare deeply at each other, everyone’s attention on them in silence. Then they burst out laughing and high-fived. “OKAY!” they yelled in unison.

Minho and woojin sighed, chan looked confused, and changbin said, “what the fuck just happened? What’s ‘okay’?”

“they do this all the time. Please just ignore them, the two idiots. Honestly, nobody acts like this-“

“seungmin get your ass over here, we cant let them beat us!” jisung yelled, interrupting woojin.

He marched over, trying to smack a kiss on seungmin’s cheek. “are you insane?! Get the hell away from me! Beat us in what?” seungmin cried out while trying to push jisung’s kissy lips away.

“they just initiated a challenge, and I accept!” jisung declared.

“well I don’t!”

Chan chuckled, getting up and standing by woojin. He patted woojin’s shoulder as woojin massaged his temples in annoyance. “it seems you spoke too soon my friend.”

Felix cuddled back into hyunjin’s chest while sipping his bubble tea. “they will never be able to beat us, hyunjinnie.” Hyunjin nodded in agreement.

Jisung heard this, snapping his head to the two new boys. “you wanna bet?! You two aren’t the only pretty faces here, might I remind you.” He humphed, running a hand through his hair.

“duh. I’m above all of you in looks.” minho said in the background.

“you shut up over there, you annoying shit.” Jisung called over.

“only stating the cold hard facts, you stupid brat.” Minho spat back.

Jisung glared over at minho. “yeah, not as cold as your shower is going to be tomorrow.” He threatened.

“you wont be able to stay up long enough to hear me taking a shower. Who knows, you might hear more of those ‘whispers’ haunting you and keeping you up all night.” He cackled evilly.

Jisung gasped in anger, jumping up on a chair and stomping one of his feet on the back of it, staring daggers down at minho. “you bitch! That was _you_ making ghost whispers and scratching on the other side of my wall?!”

Minho sniffed, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“it totally _was_ you! I thought the place was actually haunted! I couldn’t sleep for two days straight! I was terrified!” he whined.

“yeah, and I couldn’t get any sleep because he was scared calling me and chan up on the phone.” Changbin chimed in unhelpfully.

Minho shrugged his shoulders, “not my problem.”

“aw look at you jisungie, making other friends.” seungmin laughed cutely, catching hyunjin’s attention.

Jisung turned his head to seungmin, a look of betrayal and disgust on his face. Minho at the same time had a similar look of disgust on his.

They both said at the same time, “He is NOT my friend!”

Changbin, felix, and hyunjin all laughed at them.

Chan watched all of this go on in front of him and woojin with a slight red glint to his eyes. He placed his hands on his hips, a smile twitching at the corners of his lips as he muttered under his breath, “Finally. they all seem to be getting along pretty well. now only one more, and we will all be here.”

Woojin side glanced over at him with confusion on his face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Siberia" by Lights
> 
> Just a fun fact: I love tea with all my heart <3


	7. Now or Never

Minho was back in their conference room, waiting his turn to give his report. It’s been a month now since they entered the cherished’s lives and they are having their first official meeting per protocol, with woojin at the front of the table.

“…and so I put sheer curtains up in his windows. The place was so boring! It needed a bit of color you know? They are sea green, and it just really makes the place feel more homey. But then he decided to be an ass, saying that he was going to slash a knife through them if I didn’t get rid of them by tomorrow.” Felix ended his report with a pissed off pout.

Woojin sighed. “and did you?”

Felix looked at him confused. “did I what?”

“take down the curtains?”

“hell no! I think they look better where they are. If he so much as goes near them, im going to throw him over my shoulder and spank his ass.” Felix argued defiantly.

“ooo I like that idea!” hyunjin jumped in.

Ignoring hyunjin, woojin turned away from felix, writing something down in his files. “well thank you for that very detailed and very unnecessary report on how you like to annoy the shit out of changbin.”

“wouldn’t be surprised if changbin rips his hair out bald before we are gone.” Hyunjin said with a giggle.

“ok minho. You next.”

“nothing in particular has happened. He’s irritating and annoying, and we are your typical friendly neighbors.” He gritted his teeth with a shrug. Just this morning he stepped out on some sticky syrup that jisung must have ‘accidentally’ spilled in front of his door. He was 15 minutes late to this meeting trying to clean off the soles of his shoes.

Woojin quirked an eyebrow up at minho. “really? That’s all?” minho nodded like the angel that he is. But smirked, thinking about how jisung is going to have a hard time getting into his apartment when he gets home this afternoon. Somehow he’s going to find glue in the keyholes of his door when he tries to unlock it. he wouldn’t miss that for the world. Just two more hours until jisung got home.

Woojin watched as minho chuckled quietly to himself, lost in thought. “alright then. Hyunjin, how about you? How’s seungmin holding up after what happened last week with the accident?” they’ve been meaning to discuss this since it happened.

Hyunjin got serious, sitting up straight. “so far we haven’t found the car that did it, which is strange if you ask me. It ended up being a hit and run. It was the weirdest thing to experience.” He took a moment to rethink his thoughts on that day. “I was walking behind him, and he suddenly clutched his head in pain. I think he was having a vision of it happening. And then he just took off straight for the street! I had to run faster than normal and held him back.”

“his psychic abilities are quite a burden on the poor boy.” woojin reasoned.

“the thing is…why would he put himself into danger like that? he must have known that there was a high chance of him getting hurt. What did he have to gain from doing that?” Hyunjin questioned.

“maybe he’s just selfless?” felix shrugged.

“surely he would value his own life over another’s? its human nature.” Hyunjin argued.

“we don’t value our lives over theirs, though.” Minho said.

“yeah, but we were born to protect the cherished. That’s different.” Felix made a point.

Woojin ended the debate, “well in any case, hyunjin you need to watch seungmin more carefully. He’s a risk to his own life. and we need to find that car. I don’t care how it happened, one of our cherished was almost killed and that person needs to pay the price.”

Hyunjin nodded at the command. Then, “how’s chan doing?” hyunjin smirked, teasing woojin and changing the topic.

Woojin huffed, looking more tired than ever. “intolerable. He is the most kind, caring, responsible person I have ever met. And I hate spending every minute with him.”

“aww, don’t lie to us.” Felix laughed. “you’re just mad because he’s always taking you by surprise!”

“I wasn’t the only one who noticed that, was i?” minho asked, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair.

“nope!” hyunjin and felix said together.

“it seems there’s more to my cherished one than he is letting on.” Woojin rubbed his temples with fatigue.

The others raised their eyebrows at woojin, giving a look to each other at woojin’s words. But before they could tease the oldest about it, woojin breathed in sharply and looked up at everyone.

“there’s a specific reason I brought you guys here despite us needing to protect the cherished at this moment. Its important.”

Perking up, they all nodded for him to continue.

“as you know, ill be turning 25 soon. And then its only a matter of time before my replacement will take over guarding chan.”

Felix’s face slumped, and hyunjin went to hold his hand, both boys needing the touch to comfort them.

“when that time comes, minho will be the new unit leader.” Minho looked away, upset at the news but didn’t object.

“not a lot of good it will do. I’m only a few months younger than you.” He muttered under his breath, his hand playing with his silver hoop earring in agitation. It was an old habit of his when he was feeling anxious. Woojin gave him a look that said not to argue.

“our department head is coming personally to introduce the new recruit to our team. JYP should be down in a few minutes.” Woojin told them calmly.

Felix jumped to his feet in surprise, his chair falling backward. “already?! It’s too soon! Cant you tell him we will do this at a later time?”

“yeah! We don’t want to meet anyone new yet!” hyunjin said, taking felix’s side.

Minho looked down at the metal table with solemn eyes, not saying anything. He’s been here longer than the other two. He knows how these things work.

Woojin patiently waited for them to settle down, before continuing. He looked at them softly. “im not gone yet you jerks. Besides, I hear our new recruit is younger than even felix. I want you guys to take care of him properly to get used to things around here. No arguments.”

Felix tsked, sitting back down. they all looked the other way, but nodded.

Suddenly, their door opened and in walked their department head himself, JYP. He was a hardass and demanded respect, but wasn’t unreasonable compared to the other department heads within their agency. Behind him was a tall but young looking recruit, not much younger than felix. He peeked around JYP, smiling a bright smile.

JYP wasted no time, simply stating “this is jeongin. he will be on your team from now on and will take woojin’s place once he puts in his leave of absence. Be good to him.” then he turned on his heel and walked out, too busy for pleasantries.

Jeongin danced lightly on his feet, giving everyone a little wave. The others were still too upset, delaying in their greeting to the youngest.

Jeongin’s smile faltered and his hand slowly lowered at their reactions. Woojin chuckled lightly, speaking up. “don’t mind them. They are just upset about me leaving in a few months. Give them some time.”

Jeongin’s smile returned, nodding in understanding, his eyes studying his new team. Hyunjin and felix gave him a weak smile back, and hyunjin patted the chair next to his softly. Jeongin skipped over, taking the seat.

Then they spent the next hour or so getting acquainted with each other.

***

Jisung slowly dragged his legs into the building’s main door and up the stairs to his apartment. He glanced over to the huge dark spot outside minho’s door, cackling a little at the sight. He snuck out into the hallway early this morning before work and dumped a whole bottle of maple syrup right onto the ground without regret. If it wasn’t so goddamn cold out, there would even be ants getting into minho’s apartment right about now.

He then went to put his key into his lock. It went in, but became stuck. Jisung frowned down at it, jiggling it a bit. He never had troubles with his door lock before. After another minute of playing around with the key not budging, he crouched down looking into his keyhole.

Fucking glue! That bastard! Hes going to have to call maintenance now, which means he has to wait at least 40 minutes!

Pulling out his phone with a few select choice curses coming from his mouth, his ears perked up as he heard soft footsteps coming from the stairwell down the hall.

Well speak of the devil himself! Minho must be miraculously back at the same time as him like he is every day now for over a month.

Jisung tapped his foot, waiting for minho to turn the corner. His phone was still in his hand. he was about to give minho a rant if he’s ever seen one.

After 30 seconds, jisung didn’t see or hear minho anymore. He frowned, finding it odd. He knows he heard footsteps, there’s no way he imagined it. then he heard a soft thud. Jisung stood at attention, alert now. Nobody should be able to get into this building without a key to the front door downstairs. Currently minho and jisung were the only two residents.

Now, jisung wasn’t an idiot. He’s not going to be all like “minho? You there buddy?” He’s seen the dumb blondes in the scary movies and knows what’s going to happen next.

Someone in all black turned the corner, abruptly coming at jisung. And of course, he couldn’t even get into his apartment to hide.

Unless minho turned into a ninja, that definitely was not him. his build and stature wasn’t the same as minho’s either, and he didn’t have minho’s gorgeous mouthwatering thighs. Jisung would know, he’s spent enough time admiring them.

Don’t get him wrong, he still totally hates minho with a passion.

The guy came at jisung with fucking nunchucks! Quick to react, jisung ducked and rolled over to the other side of the hallway. He sprung back up on his feet with a fighting stance. He may look small, but he and changbin spent years sparring at the martial arts place down the street. Jisung never bothered to pay to earn his belts like changbin, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know just as much as his delinquent hyung.

He quickly dialed chan’s number and stuck the phone in his pocket so that his other hand was free. He looked around for a weapon of any kind, but the hallway was empty. The man in black slowly came closer to him, making jisung back up to the entrance of the stairwell. If he wasn’t careful, he would be free falling backwards down the stairs.

“who are you, and why are you trying to attack me? Is it money you want? Because I hate to say it, but so do i.” there was no response.

The man didn’t talk or make a sound, besides the slight clang of his metal weapon. Jisung backed up until he was just under the wooden frame of the entrance way to the stairs, and he waited for the crazy ninja guy to get closer.

“alrighty, I guess its not money. Are you trying to rob me then? Because minho’s place is way better than mine. You should try there first.” Still nothing.

When he was close enough, jisung suddenly jumped up high grabbing onto the wooden trim of the doorway frame and swung his legs out kicking the male in the chest hard enough to send him landing on his ass. Using the momentum of his kick, he landed down and wasted no time swinging his foot at the guy’s head, knocking him out cold. Then he smacked the nunchucks out of his hand sending it sliding across the hall and stomped his foot onto his chest, hearing a satisfying grunt from the asshole.

He took his phone out of his pocket, putting it to his ear. “chan?”

“jisung thank god! I called minho, he will be there in like 10 seconds. What the hell is going on over there?”

“what could minho do for me besides make them die from a heart attack by looking at his gorgeous face?”

“jisung shut the hell up for like 2 seconds and wait for minho. Please tell me you didn’t try to fight anyone and aren’t in danger.”

“uh well, about that…” he trailed off, looking down at his foot squishing the oxygen out of the ninja man.

***

Minho was briskly walking back to his apartment later than he intended. The meeting with jeongin went over longer than expected, and so now minho was going to miss his opportunity to see jisung’s angry face when he realizes he cant get into his apartment.

He was almost greatly disappointed at that. making jisung angry at him was the highlight of his day. There’s just something about bothering the shit out of the person you hate the most that really makes his world a brighter place.

As he approached his building at the end of the secluded street, he paused listening. Something wasn’t right. He glanced around the perimeter, noticing a few things out of place. He could hear rustling in one of the bushes, and there was an obviously conspicuous car parked off a little ways.

He slowly approached his building, trying to look normal. As he got closer to the main entrance, he reached for his keys placing them into the lock. But the door creaked open without him having to turn the key, which meant someone broke it to get in.

He heard a whistling in the air and ducked at the last second as three knives stabbed and dented the metal door in front of where he was standing. Then he saw the window of the car roll up and it took off.

_Damn it!_

He was about to chase after it at full speed, when his phone rang. It was a number he didn’t recognize.

“don’t ask any questions and just listen! Jisung is in his apartment building right now and someone is attacking him. I have him on the line right now.” Chan’s frantic voice blared through his speaker. Minho hung up and ran inside, taking the stairs two at a time, the car no longer his top priority.

Minho turned the corner into the hallway and stopped abruptly at what he saw, just catching the last of jisung’s sentence. He must have been talking to chan on the other line.

“… die from a heart attack by looking at his gorgeous face?”

He put more weight on the foot that was currently stomping on a figure cloaked in black. He listened for a second and then said,

“uh well, about that…”

Minho cleared his throat, making jisung startle.

“ill call you back chan. Minho is here.” And then jisung hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. “nice day we’re having huh?” he said lamely.

“are you okay?” minho asked. Jisung thought he almost saw concern and worry etched on the older boy’s face.

Deciding he was just seeing things, he answered “oh just swell. I come home and you know what I find?”

“someone trying to attack you?” minho supplied helpfully.

“no! my fucking keyhole with glue shoved into it! do you know how much that is going to cost me?! At least 35-40 dollars for maintenance to come and fix it! you think money just grows on trees minho? You think just because you got a nice little cozy life, being a cute little dance instructor and shaking your nice ass at the gym/recreational center down the street, and not having a care in the world, that other people could afford to spend money like that? well let me tell you mister-“

Jisung was cut off by minho’s laughter, which he would never admit was the best sound he has ever heard. “what the fuck is so funny, you walking piece of sin?”

“so let me get this straight about you-“

“im the farthest thing from straight-“ jisung corrected him.

Minho interrupted and kept talking, “let me get this straight. You got attacked by a guy in all black swinging nunchucks at you like a crazy person, beat the shit out of him all by yourself, and you’re mad because I put glue in your door lock and now you have to pay for it?”

“so it was you! You admit it!” jisung gasped. In his excitement, he accidentally stepped down harder on the attacker making the guy breathe out in pain. Jisung looked down, “whoops.”

“jisung, im going to need you to kindly get off the ninja and step away from him. ill handle this.” minho tried to reason with the blonde, who was clearly insane, and that means a lot coming from minho.

Jisung put his hands on his hips giving minho a weird look. “what can the local dance instructor do with a guy who tried to rob me? If anything we should call the police-“

“no!” minho rushed, grabbing jisung’s phone from his hand at lightning speed.

Jisung barely had time to process what just happened. “what the hell? Why not? and give me back my phone.”

Minho started to sweat, not knowing what to tell jisung, but also not wanting to blow his cover with the local cops. His department was a special segment of the government that no one knows about, for obvious reasons. He cant afford human law enforcement sniffing around his and jisung’s kind.

“uh, because it wasn’t just an ordinary robbery.” He supplied vaguely. He should’ve known it wouldn’t have worked with jisung though.

“uh-uh, you aren’t getting off the hook just like that. who the hell are you to tell me what I can or cant do with a guy who attacked me? You are just my neighbor.” Jisung crossed his arms. Usually minho secretly admired his spunkiness, but today was not one of those days.

He glanced down at the guy who tried to kill his cherished, instantly hating him. when he was first assigned to jisung, he honestly didn’t think anyone would attack him. there have been no signs of anything out of the ordinary for a month now. But obviously minho was wrong, and this guy needs to go for interrogating right away. Plus, protecting jisung just got a whole lot more serious now, and the others need to be warned as well.

Jisung was still staring minho down, waiting for an answer from his neighbor who is acting kinda suspicious. He tapped his foot in frustration, forgetting its currently the one stomped down on the guy’s stomach. He heard a sharp intake, and winced. He really has gotta stop doing that.

Minho debated back and forth what his next move was going to be. He needs to be with jisung a lot closer now until they find out who the hell these guys are, and he can’t do that without jisung being suspicious. It’s not like they are the best of friends who hang out all the time.

In the end, jisung’s protection is the most important over his secrets. He honestly hates himself for not being capable enough to protect jisung and leave him out of this whole situation at the same time. To put it mildly, he failed his mission and might even be taken away from jisung if the higher ups find out about it. he doubts his boss JYP would care, but it was the head of the whole agency that would be furious.

“well? I’m waiting. Why shouldn’t I call the cops and instead leave this for you to handle?”

Minho sighed, running his fingers through his hair in anxiousness. He needs to pick his next words carefully.

“im a secret agent, working for a special department of the government. I was assigned to watch over you and make sure you were safe from anyone trying to harm you.”

Jisung raised an eyebrow. “and you expect me to believe that?”

“well, no. but that guy down there was no simple burglar, and he has friends. they attacked me downstairs before driving away.”

Jisung watched minho’s face carefully. Does he think he’s dumb? This isn’t some sort of mission impossible bullshit. That doesn’t happen in real life, does it?

“I can tell you don’t believe me.” Minho said simply.

“duh. Who would believe some evil guys part of some cult would attack an ordinary person like me?” jisung said snarkily.

Minho really needed jisung to trust him and go with it, so he decided to give out a little more information than he should. “ordinary? Is that really what you are calling yourself?” he challenged the blonde.

Jisung went pale as he slowly realized what he meant behind those words. There’s no way minho knows. Only his few close friends know about him, and only because they have similar abilities.

“I can clearly see you know what I mean. Yes, I know about your psychic abilities. I know you can touch objects and see everything related to that object. Like I said, I was assigned to protect you.” There. Everything was out in the open. Almost. But it will have to do for now.

Jisung’s heart was beating really fast, and his hands started to shake. He so carefully tried to hide himself in plain sight. He isn’t an idiot. He knows that he isn’t normal. If he let people know about his abilities, he might be locked up as a lab rat or worse. He must not have been careful enough if these people from some shady government agency knows all about him. where did he go wrong? When did he slip up?

Why are people after him?

He looked down at the guy he just beat up, seeing it in a new light. Then he looked back up at minho. Should he trust what this person was saying? That his piece of shit gorgeous neighbor was actually a secret agent?

But the signs were all there. How minho just showed up in his life one day randomly. How he comes home at exactly the same time as him. in the end, he was forced to accept the truth that so obviously slapped him in the face.

He carefully stepped off of his attacker, and stared at minho with wide eyes. “and how can I trust you? That you won’t attack me too? Or my friends?” jisung questioned him.

That was a valid question minho was not prepared to answer.

“fine. I know trust should be earned. What if I told you that your special friends also have agents assigned to them for their own protection as well. Would that make you feel better?”

Jisung’s mind started thinking fast. Hyunjin showed up as a new attorney at the hospital. He pulled seungmin out of the way of that car last week and never once questioned why seungmin knew how that bicyclist was going to get hit minutes before it happened. Changbin gained a new employee who apparently was not scared of him at all and stuck around him like glue. Chan had woojin working for him, although that was completely chan’s doing in the first place. But then, why would chan suddenly hire new help when he’s clearly never needed it for years? And then the phone call he had with chan right before minho showed up.

Jisung rubbed his temples, the fight leaving him. “ok. I can’t believe im saying this, but I believe you. So now what?”

Minho relaxed in relief. Surprisingly, jisung was a very rational person. He knows how crazy this situation looks. But then, jisung’s life has always been bordered on crazy, hasn’t it?

“first, I need you to never speak a word of what I just told you to anybody. Including your friends. the more people that know, the more dangerous it is for them. Second, I need you to stay in your apartment while I call for cleanup to take care of this guy. You don’t need to know who he is, where he’s going, or what he’s up to. You must not ask questions. Third, I need you to always come to me in case you suspect something, and be more aware of your surroundings. Are we clear?”

Jisung gritted his teeth at the bossy way minho demanded things from him. he huffed, choosing to let it go for now. “sir yes sir!” he mocked. “but one problem.”

“yes?” minho said as he brought his phone out to make a couple calls.

“my spawn from satan neighbor put glue in my lock, and it seems I can’t get into my apartment.”

Whoops. There was that little problem minho overlooked. Without thinking, Minho walked over to jisung’s door and kicked it in, breaking the lock and letting it smack harshly into the wall.

“problem solved.” He shrugged.

Jisung ‘s mouth was hanging open in shock. Not because that was the hottest thing he’s ever seen (surely not that), but because now his door was broken!

“you broke my fucking door! How the hell am I supposed to be all safe in my own place when my own damn door won’t shut let alone lock?!” he marched up to minho getting in his face, his anger returning.

Minho looked down into jisung’s angry eyes and smirked as he stepped closer to him. “ill pay for the damages. just stay with me until then. It will only be for a day or two while maintenance fixes it. there’s only one bed though. So either you take the couch, or we share.”

Jisung stared up at minho, hating the playful look in his eyes. He willed himself not to blush at the implication, and forced his pulse to slow down. not that it worked. His mouth went dry as he considered it. there’s no way minho was safe from him if he stayed in the same bedroom as him.

Jisung tried to breathe evenly from his nose, and stepped away from minho slightly. He hates that this obnoxious boy managed to corner him, making him back away. Instead he said, “nah. I’ll just go stay at seungmin’s for a few days. Besides, I would much rather have hyunjin protect me than you. Have you seen that boy’s beautiful pouty lips? Totally kissable. Seungmin really got the luck of the draw.”

He licked his lips out of habit, making minho’s eyes flicker down at the gesture. Usually minho didn’t care about everyone fawning over hyunjin, he was used to it. it never bothered him, until now. For some reason he was incredibly pissed at hyunjin for no reason. He noticed jisung back away a step, and he took a step closer. Jisung backed away again, and again minho stepped forward, his eyes still trained on jisung’s lips.

Jisung could feel the wall close behind him, having nowhere to go. Minho dragged his eyes up jisung’s face, and jisung could see the hunger in them and what appeared to be specks of amber forming a ring in his iris.  

Minho smirked. He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and softly trailing his fingertips again up jisung’s arm, craving the touch almost as much as hyunjin. What he really wanted to do was push him up harshly against the wall caging him and making sure jisung will never think of hyunjin again.

“no can do my little cherished one. Hyunjin is only assigned to seungmin, meaning seungmin’s life is his number one priority over you. Same goes for felix and woojin. Orders are orders. Plus, you wouldn’t want to put seungmin in unnecessary danger would you? As far as we know, they only know about you and not your friends.”

His touch felt like fire, but still jisung didn’t push him away. He forced himself to focus on the situation at hand. minho was right. He would never put seungmin into danger like that. he does enough of that himself on a daily basis.

Jisung sighed, trying not to lean into minho further. He hated himself for being so weak when he was this close to him. “fine. you win. but im taking the couch!” he glared, using all of his willpower to push past minho and stomp into his apartment to grab what he needs for the next day or two, leaving that mess on the floor for minho to clean up. It was his _job_ after all.

Minho chuckled, knowing he won that battle. Over what, he didn’t know. But he was still smug about it, secretly satisfied that he got jisung to spend the next few days with him in his place.

Jisung entered his apartment, passing by a metal object on the floor. He stopped, glancing down at the man’s nunchucks. Minho watched curiously as he crouched down next to it.

“what is it?” concern laced back into his voice as jisung just stared at the nunchucks. minho walked over, standing next to his cherished.

“I could help.”

Minho was confused. “with what?”

“catching that guy and whoever they work for. I could help. You know about my gift of touch.” He looked up at minho from his position on the ground. “these belonged to him. I could touch it and try and see what I can get from it. but I don’t know what kind of situation im getting myself into, so even though I hate myself for doing this, im asking for your permission. Is this something I want to get myself involved deeply in?”

Minho was shocked. He didn’t think jisung would be willing to help. But then again, it was his own life at stake. Any normal person would do the same thing if they could.

Minho was worried the more jisung knew, the more danger he was in until he figured out what was going on. He has a few clues he can follow before relying on jisung’s abilities. So he shook his head.

“I appreciate the offer. But for right now, it’s best if you stay out of it as much as possible until we eliminate the threat.” For some reason, that disappointed jisung. He wanted to help.

Seeing the look on jisung’s face, minho softened his words. “but, since I already broke about a million protocols, I will make an exception. If we can’t find out who did this soon, I will ask you for your help. Deal?”

Jisung nodded. That was fair enough.

When jisung exited his apartment 45 minutes later with an overnight bag in hand, he wasn’t surprised to see the attacker gone with no signs of a struggle at all.

***

The following days were quiet. Felix heard what happened to jisung, being more alert around changbin. currently, he was skipping to chan’s place to get them something to drink. He smiled at woojin as he approached the counter.

“hiya hyung? How are things going?” he said cheerfully.

Woojin smiled back. “fine. what are you having?”

“hmmm, I want to try the coconut bubble tea today. Oh no! I don’t know what to get changbin!” felix completely forgot to ask. The grumpy male was locked away in his office again when felix went on break to get them the drinks.

“not a problem. I’ll just ask chan.” Woojin told him. and then more quietly under his breath he grumbled, “the bastard probably already knows you’re here anyways. I don’t even know why I bother going to get him.”

He turned away, walking slowly to the back kitchen, dragging his feet in exhaustion. Felix frowned at the state of his hyung. He wasn’t looking so good these days.

Within a couple minutes, chan approached the front counter with a warm smile on his face, woojin following close behind. “ah felix! Good to see you! I already made your order in the back. A coconut bubble tea for you, and changbin’s usual order in a covered cup.”

Felix took the orders, looking down at changbin’s order with curiosity. “hyung, what did changbin get? I noticed you did the same thing last week for his order.”

Chan chuckled fondly. “I don’t know if I should tell you. Binnie would totally be pissed if anyone found out.”

This sparked a playfulness in felix’s eyes. “aw hyung! Come on please tell me. Please, pretty pleaseeee?” he whined cutely.

“well ok.” Chan didn’t hesitate, loving the idea of torturing his dark delinquent friend. “binnie doesn’t like bitter things, especially coffee or espresso. But he would never admit to that. his favorite is also a bubble tea, strawberry flavored. He makes me put a cover over it so no one would know.”

Woojin laughed at that, finding it quite adorable. Felix squealed. “oh my god that is the cutest and most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!” he said loudly. He said goodbye to his hyungs, and headed for the exit. He couldn’t wait to put to use this new little bit of information he just found out about his serial killer looking assignment.

But then he stopped and looked at his drink, all colorful in the clear plastic cup with a cute polka dotted boba straw poking out of the top. Then he looked at changbin’s drink, in a dark coffee cup with a lid securely on top.

You cant drink a bubble tea properly without the huge straw it comes with. It just wasn’t right. He turned around and marched up to chan, who raised his eyebrows in question. “im going to need one more straw.”

Chan handed him the straw and watched as felix walked out of his bakery, the bell chiming on the door. Next to him, woojin chuckled and then coughed a little. Chan frowned and turned to study woojin’s face more closely.

He took a step closer so that they were inches apart. Woojin merely stared at chan, letting him come closer. Chan brought up his hand and gently touched the dark circles under woojin’s eyes with his fingertips.

“you haven’t been getting proper rest again.” He scolded the older male.

Woojin smiled weakly, resisting the urge to lean into the touch. “no amount of rest can help me now.” He answered simply. And then he turned, letting chan’s fingers brush his face as he walked back to his spot behind the counter.

Chan clenched his raised hand into a fist, not knowing what to say back to that.

***

Felix skipped happily into the music store with his drinks, heading straight for the little office in the back. “oh binnie! I got us something delicious!” he called out, using the nickname he heard chan call him earlier. When he approached the door, he noticed that it was cracked open for once. Felix has never been in changbin’s office before.

So he kicked it open gently with his foot and walked right in, taking in the place.

He set the drinks down on changbin’s messy desk and looked around at the decorations. He frowned, not surprised to see shades of grey and white, with some black here and there. It was a warm grey color, but still kind of lifeless.

His eyes roamed around some more, until he came to the huge built in wall shelf holding many books of changbin’s. he must be well educated to have so many thick books in his office. But that wasn’t what surprised felix. What really shocked him was the cute little stuffed animal on one of the shelves, placed so carefully.

He grinned, taking the little munchlax and his drink and heading to the front of the store to go tease changbin about it. he loves seeing changbin get riled up over nothing.

***

Changbin was just coming back from the bathroom when he heard his annoying employee giggling like a weirdo in the front of the store. he’s been working with him long enough to know now that those giggles were never a good thing. He glanced at the time, noticing he had maybe 30 minutes left of lunch before he opens the store back up for the afternoon hours. So he headed to the counter to see what all the commotion was about.

He stopped abruptly when he noticed felix. More specifically what was in felix’s hand. his face went red, from embarrassment and from anger. How dare felix enter his office without permission! And how he dare touch what was obviously not his!

“you better have a good explanation for going into my office and touching my things.” changbin said in a cold and angry voice, glaring murderous intent at the younger boy.

Felix wasn’t fazed by the sudden threat. “binnie! I got you your favorite drink from chan’s! and how come you never introduced us?” he said while waving the little munchlax’s arm to changbin. changbin almost had a heart attack at the careless way felix was playing with his precious Gyu.

Without notice, he ran straight for felix. Felix was taken by surprise by the sudden attack, but his quick reflexes kicked in and he danced around changbin. “hey, don’t be like that binnie!” he pouted.

“give him back!” changbin growled out, rushing to felix again. Felix ran behind one of the displays with incredible speed. “I just wanted to look at it!” he whined.

Changbin continued to run around the store to get his munchlax back from the psychotic freckled boy. “yah! If you hurt Gyu im going to murder you in your sleep!”

Felix laughed joyously. “oh my! You are going to have to be in my bed in order for you to do that!”  he called over.

Changbin paused and scrunched up his nose, admitting he walked himself right into that one. He feigned left and tried running to the right. But felix was too fast.

Felix laughed whole heartedly again as he dodged a box of tissues that changbin threw his way in frustration at not being able to catch the boy.

 “I cant believe the local gangster wannabe who rides a motorcycle and scares everyone away from just one glare owns a cute little plushie and loves to drink strawberry bubble tea!” he held gyu up in the air with both hands and twirled around with it, wittingly dodging changbin again effortlessly and humming the opening to the Lion King.

Changbin was beyond frustrated. How the hell can this boy move so fast and gracefully?

Changbin clenched his jaw, running and jumping on one of his tables in the store glaring down at felix. Felix turned and gave him a blinding smile up at him, cradling Gyu against his chest like a baby.

“I swear to god felix if he so much as has one thread loose, I will strangle your neck with my hands.”

Felix skipped over and hopped on his counter, sitting there and swinging his legs in a childish manner. “mmm, I wouldn’t mind that. as long as you promise to make me feel good while you’re at it.” and then he fucking winked at changbin.

Changbin grabbed a book from the table he was standing on and threw it full force at the pink haired boy. not surprised by this point, changbin watched as felix simply shifted his head slightly to the right and dodged the book with no problems. Changbin was beginning to think there was more to this fluffy boy than he lets on.

“do you speak like that to everyone you know?!”

Felix gently placed Gyu next to the cash register and looked back at changbin while biting his plump bottom lip on purpose.

Changbin knew he was just being a tease to rile him up, but still he couldn’t help glancing down at the movement itching to jump down and take the place of felix’s teeth with his own.

“only to you, tough guy.” Felix chuckled, causing changbin to shake himself from his annoying thoughts.

“you’re intolerable,” he sighed, jumping down from the table and walking over to Felix so that he could get Gyu back finally. Felix was still swinging his legs absentmindedly while watching changbin approach, the playfulness not leaving his eyes.

Changbin felt uneasy, but still he wanted gyu back from this evil boy’s clutches. Once changbin was close enough, felix smirked and wrapped his tight jean clad legs around the smaller boy’s waist trapping him against him. changbin startled, completely taken off guard at the touch as he was reaching over for gyu.

“what the hell are you doing? I don’t like it when people touch me.” He growled out, angry for real this time. Felix watched as changbin’s eyes flashed red really fast, but then was gone.

Not deterred about his cherished one’s known temper, he leaned back on his arms on the countertop casually, his legs still wrapped around changbin in a death grip, pulling him closer and hooking his feet around his back.

He studied changbin’s angry face for a few moments. So he doesn’t like it when people touch him? it makes sense really. Why he always flinches away slightly when customers approach him, or when he gets really mad when people brush up against him. felix wasn’t expecting this. why was changbin so bothered about being touched?

He stared at changbin’s eyes in fascination. Then he slowly unhooked his legs from the dark haired boy’s waist, letting his inner thighs brush changbin’s hips while doing so. He grinned as he watched changbin snatch Gyu and back away quickly. “just messing with you mate.”

Changbin huffed, turning back towards his office. “well knock it off, or ill fire you.” he threatened for the thousandth time since he met him, but never actually going through with it. his anger slowly dispersed as he walked away. “and take down those damn curtains from my windows!” he shouted.

“yes sir!” felix called after him, fully intending to _not_ do as he asked. Then he chuckled to himself as he heard a door slam.

Changbin walked into his office, placing gyu carefully back on his shelf, muttering curses under his breath as his heart continued to thump uncontrollably around in his chest. He ignored the feeling, and then he glanced down at the drink sitting on his desk. He opened the lid and saw it was his favorite bubble milk tea. well, he might as well drink it while its sitting here.

But then he noticed a large boba straw decorated with little strawberries sitting next to his cup. For once, he can properly drink his bubble tea with the straw like you are supposed to do. Felix must have picked it up for him.

He smiled to himself, secretly happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Now or Never" by SF9
> 
> please excuse any mistakes since i didnt really look it over. ill edit it later ;)


	8. I Just Can't Get Enough

Minho dodged jeongin’s kick with a block to his forearm. He slashed his other hand out, causing jeongin to duck and dodge.

“I mean, he’s so annoying! He actually had the guts to bring in a humidifier right in the middle of my living room. I almost tripped on the damn thing!” minho complained for the hundredth time that day. He and jeongin were sparring back at the agency. Right now jisung and seungmin were safe at work until 3pm.

Felix was over at the martial arts place with changbin, so hyunjin had to spar with woojin. Chan gave woojin a day off to ‘properly rest,’ and so woojin instead called everyone over to touch up on some training.

“at least jisung pays attention to you.” Hyunjin muttered under his breath, throwing a punch to woojin’s face. Woojin dodged, just barely.

“with hatred! That hardly counts for anything!” minho yelled back at him, trying to sweep jeongin’s feet from under him. jeongin, being young, easily side stepped that with incredible speed.

Walking over to get some water, woojin motioned to hyunjin that he was done for the day. Then he sat on the ground by the wall, watching minho and jeongin continue.

Jeongin finally spoke up about minho’s ranting. “it seems like you kinda like him to me, hyung,” he called over laughing. Minho punched at his face, only for him to hop back quickly.

“no way! He’s so irritating! And he has a horrible temper all the time.” Minho scrunched up his nose in distaste.

“speak for yourself. Jisung is perfectly fine with me and seungmin. hell, he even gets along with changbin pretty well.” Hyunjin said.

“seems you are spending an awful lot of time with seungmin.” minho teased, swinging a kick to jeongin’s hip.

“he’s not a very touchy feely person.” Hyunjin grumbled, not even denying it. “and he works like all the time! I have to spend extra unnecessary hours at the hospital because the stubborn boy doesn’t know when to take a break.”

“cant say the same for felix, though. He clings to changbin like glue. What happened to getting murdered and shoved into a fridge?” minho giggled. He was starting to get tired, so he motioned for jeongin that he was done. He wiped the sweat off with a towel that hyunjin handed him.

Woojin kept quiet, watching them with a slight frown. “you guys do realize that you are not to get close to them, right? We are only here to protect them and eliminate this threat. Those are the orders.” He didn’t seem too happy saying that, but minho just assumed he was tired.

Jeongin frowned. “why? Whats wrong with being their friend?”

Woojin glanced over at him. “because. It makes it harder to leave unnoticed when we move on to our next assignment. We are constantly coming and going from place to place. Its better this way and less complicated.”

Jeongin made an ‘o’ with his mouth in understanding. Hyunjin looked down at the ground with a gloomy facial expression. For some reason, minho felt irritated that woojin reminded them about their orders. He stomped down the feeling right away. This was like any other job he’s had before.

Except he kinda wants to murder the boy he’s supposed to protect.

Right after he maybe grabs him by that obnoxious blonde hair he so badly wants to run his hands through and kisses the hell out of him. he craves jisung’s touch like a madman. he wants jisung to trace his entire body with his fingertips, and it slowly is getting worse as the days go by.

He glances over at hyunjin in sympathy. It must be the worst for him. he sits next to hyunjin, intertwining his fingers with the younger boy’s, absentmindedly playing with one of his rings. Hyunjin gives a little squeeze back, letting minho soothe him.

Woojin seemed to be lost in thought, and jeongin was casually bouncing on the balls of his feet in slight confusion. he will understand what they are going through soon enough.

***

Felix was on his way to the gym when he decided to stop for a drink. Chan’s place seemed to be right in the smack middle of everything these days. He still had an hour to kill before the martial arts class starts and changbin was probably already there warming up. He always closes the music store up early on these days so he could continue his training.

The little bell rang, and felix stepped inside the warm bakery. It was getting really cold out as they were nearing the end of winter.

Woojin wasn’t here today having a day off, but he still enjoys talking to chan.

“hi hyung!” he greeted cheerfully. Chan smiled when he saw the happy boy skip inside.

Felix plopped down at a table near the counter where chan was working and waited for the older boy to bring him his usual order. He was contemplating ways to spruce up changbin’s place since it needed more color to it. he just didn’t know what he should do next.

Felix yelled with glee when chan came over with his drink. As he was sipping it, chan sat down across from him. “so how are things going?” he asked, idly playing with some flower petals that were sitting in the center of each table as a pretty center piece.

“good. Just going to meet up with binnie soon. I joined that new martial arts class!” felix watched as chan fussed over the decoration, fixing it.

“that’s good. You guys seem to be getting along nice. Honestly, this is the longest changbin has ever kept anybody as an employee.”

Felix laughed, waving the comment off. “nah. I annoy the shit out of him. you know its not a good day if changbin isn't threatening me in some way.”

“im sure you can handle it.” chan looked up and gave him another knowing smile.

After a few more minutes of comfortable silence while felix finished his drink, he looked back down at the decorations all around the bakery. chan really did have a nice touch to make everything feel like home.

Getting an idea, he stood abruptly, almost startling chan. “that’s it! ill put some plants around his place. It would look so nice near the huge windows and on his desk. Thanks hyung! I gotta go.” And felix walked out into the cold, letting the bell chime.

Chan watched him go. Then he fussed some more with his flower decorations with a smirk, and returned back to work humming a soft tune.

***

Right. Left. Right. Left.

Felix releases a bored sigh as he goes through the motions of the punches that the instructor just taught his class of white belts. He would much rather be with the black belts with changbin.

“that’s good class. Felix, no. you need to straighten your arm more when punching out.” felix restrained the urge to roll his eyes. He’s been fighting for years more than this pathetic black belt in front of him. currently he’s taking taekwondo at this puny gym, but he mastered all forms of martial arts from all other countries long ago. He was the best in his department, which is why he was placed on woojin’s team when he was just a young teen.

“felix! Fix your form!” felix ignored him, pretending to struggle with the form. really, he was barely trying, flopping his arms around like a noodle. He daydreamed about how nice it would be to see changbin shirtless practicing his kickboxing with those gloves on. He never thought much of the sport before, until changbin came along. Changbin always had this anger burning under his skin that fuels his passion in everything he does. Much to felix’s liking, he was aggressive and far from gentle which probably helped him become a good fighter. Felix smirked, thinking what else he was aggressive at.

He heard a sigh, bringing him from his thoughts. “you are going to need some help it would seem. If we don’t get you to learn the basics soon, then you wont be able to participate tomorrow with the others.”

Apparently, this gym teaches all different styles of fighting, and twice a month the instructors bring the students together to spar with each other. they say its to help tone your skills and learn how to deal with different people and different styles of fighting, in different situations. It made sense to felix really. Not everybody learns the same form of martial arts. There’s kickboxing, like changbin, and jujitsu, and kungfu. Then there is kendo, like woojin. The list goes on and on.

Deciding to kick it up a notch, he showed his instructor how much he ‘improved’ in ten minutes, earning himself a nod of approval by the end of class. Felix almost yawned.

It was as he was leaving the changing room heading straight for changbin who was down the hall when he saw it: a cockroach just casually crawling up the wall and making little clicking noises. Felix went pale and could feel the bubble of a scream in the back of his throat. He scooted as fast as he could and clung onto changbin like his life depended on it.

“d-d-do you see that? please tell me that isn’t a cockroach. Please say it isn’t.” he whimpered as he squeezed his eyes shut and tightened his arms around changbin’s neck. He may be able to kick someone’s ass, but he absolutely hates bugs with a _passion_.

“hey.” Changbin growled out in annoyance.

“binnie, is it gone?” felix whined.

“yah. Do you mind?” Changbin said with a sigh and slight irritation.

“yes! That is the most terrifying bug around. why is it even in here? We have to burn the place down now.”

“hey!” changbin yelled. Felix opened an eye and peeked over at changbin, his face inches away from the grouchy boy.

“yes?” then felix noticed he was practically wrapped around changbin, probably squeezing the life out of him. he instantly let go and backed away, knowing changbin must be super pissed for touching him so much. He braced himself for a terrible rage.

But it never came.

Felix blinked in disbelief. He studied changbin’s features carefully. Despite the obvious look like he wanted to be anywhere but here, there was no anger.

Changbin sighed. “just ignore the damn bug and lets go. God you are such a wimp.” And then he turned, walking ahead a few steps and leaving felix behind. When felix didn’t move to follow, he turned back around with the all too familiar irritation on his face again.

“you coming?”

Felix smiled brightly at him, jogging to catch up.

***

Jisung threw his keys on minho’s countertop with a huff. He looked around at the place. Overall, it was plain and simple, but nice. He had a deep green couch pushed to the far wall of the living room where his humidifier sat on the ground next to it, and a tv on the opposite side mounted to the wall. There was a huge clearing in the middle. Probably for his dance practice.

He glared over at the speakers in the corner, them being the source of his nightmare of a neighbor in the first place all those weeks ago.

He checked the time. They called maintenance early this morning before leaving, and the guy was supposed to come around 3:15pm to see what he can do about jisung’s door. Jisung left work early just in case they decided to come before the time specified. He wasn’t about to delay this if he can help it.

While waiting, he checked the other rooms not having the chance to before. It wasn’t hard to figure out where everything was since minho’s apartment was identical to his, just everything opposite. He walked by his bedroom, avoiding that at all costs. Then he peeked into minho’s spare bedroom-turned office room.

Jisung stood outside the doorway in the hall, licking his lips and debating to go in or not. he wasn’t the type to snoop, but was minho really a secret agent working for the government meant to protect him? eventually he shrugged, throwing all caution to the wind. His safety for himself was more important than minho’s feelings or trust.

He walked in, opening a desk drawer. Nothing. Then another drawer. Also nothing.

He frowned, looking around. it was practically empty! Just a computer monitor and a couple books to read for leisure and a big comfy desk chair.

_Well this is really boring and disappointing. Figures_.

Jisung shook the mouse to the computer, making it come back to life.

_password protected._

He played around, trying to guess the password thinking of anything. Minho’s head was probably full of fluff, so he tried the word ‘dance.’ Nothing.

_Ok how about ‘im a piece of shit who likes to make han jisung’s life miserable.’_

Too many characters.

Well, he was out of ideas. Unless…

Jisung brought his fingers to the monitor, caressing it softly. He knows it was cheating using his ability to hack into someone’s computer, but he doesn’t give a damn.

Just before he could really touch it, someone knocked on the door. It must be the maintenance guy.

_Shit._

Jisung walked over to the door, excuses ready at the tip of his tongue as to why his own apartment door was damaged the way it was, when he came face to face with someone he really wishes he never saw again.

“why are _you_ here?” jisung hissed out coldly. The ‘maintenance guy’ shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, his hand rubbing the back of his neck with nervousness.

“hey ji. Its been a while. I saw it was your apartment that called in for fixing, and well here I am. Plus I've been meaning to see you for awhile now,” he said with a sheepish look on his face.

Jisung curled his upper lip at him, “you need to leave. I'll call somewhere else for my door.” And he went to slam minho’s door in his face. But the guy pushed it back open with his hand.

“please! cant we just talk for a minute? I was just now considering letting you come back to me. We parted on such harsh terms.” He chuckled lightly down at jisung.

Jisung squinted his eyes at him, “ _let_ me come back? Yeah, I don’t think so. I'm not making that same mistake again.” He quickly stepped out and closed the door to minho’s apartment behind him, and glared up at this old _acquaintance_ in the hallway.

Jisung was getting very pissed, very fast.

***

Minho was turning up the stairs to his apartment. It was exactly 3pm, so jisung must be back already. He noticed the maintenance guy’s van in the parking spot outside. He swung his keys around his finger, thinking of ways to annoy jisung when he heard the sounds of an argument.

He stopped at the edge of the hallway, watching the maintenance guy reach out and slowly run his fingers through jisung’s hair.

“you dyed it again. I liked the older color better.” He heard the guy say, rubbing the strands between his fingers.

An ugly feeling settled into minho’s stomach that he’s never experienced before. What the hell was this guy doing to jisung? Why was he touching him? why wasn’t jisung yelling at him or getting up in his face like he has done all those times to minho? His eyes flashed amber in a horrible rage.

Jisung backed away, making his hair slip through the guy’s fingertips. The only thing keeping minho from shoving the bastard down the stairs and making it look like an accident was when jisung said “don’t touch me. Its over between us, and I didn’t even like you that much when we were together.”

So they used to date? For some reason that made things even worse for minho. This guy has to go and he has to go _now_. He’s supposed to protect jisung from everything. He was just doing it out of duty.

Jisung didn’t notice minho standing there yet, too agitated at the asshole who broke his heart over a year ago. But nobody needed to know that. well, besides seungmin, and chan by default only because jisung could never hide anything from chan. jisung sighed, defeated. He was tired of arguing. Hearing a jingle of keys, he turned his head to find minho watching from down the hall.

His cheeks turned pink from humiliation that minho has to witness this. he whipped his head and begged, “please. just go. I don’t feel like dealing with you anymore. I'm too busy for this shit.”

His ex-boyfriend scoffed, “busy? All you do is go to your little job. Its not like you need to see anyone right now. Surely you can spare a few minutes to talk to me. Let me come in and catch up for old time’s sake?”

Minho came closer. He heard jisung’s small voice and it made him upset. Jisung was always brave, he never cowered to anybody. He wanted to shove jisung behind him and tell the guy to fuck off.

Jisung glanced to minho and then back to the bigger pain in the ass in front of him. he licked his lips, immediately regretting what he was about to do but not stopping anyways, “actually, I do have a boyfriend. And he really wouldn’t appreciate you talking to me like that.”

There. That was the end of that. he smirked in triumph.

But then he heard laughing. “yeah right! Nobody would want to date you. I was the best thing that ever happened to you. I doubt you could find anybody willing to put up with your moody personality.” Ouch. That hurt more than it should have, jisung hated to admit it. he gritted his teeth, refusing to let his emotions show on his face and sucked in a breath.

“why is it so hard to believe that I have a boyfriend when he’s standing right behind you? Right minho, babe?” jisung wanted to crawl in a hole and die. But he was too ashamed and prideful to admit that his ex may have been right. Nobody wanted to date him. he was too different. He didn’t want to see the patronizing way he always used to look at jisung, like he was just dating him out of pity and boredom.

His ex turned around, eyeing minho up and down.

Minho blinked, not sure if he heard jisung right. Boyfriend? When did that happen?

Jisung looked to minho over this asshole’s shoulder, pleading with his eyes to help him. when minho didn’t react right away, the fire returned to jisung’s eyes. He made angry glares at his ex, and then angry glares at minho. And then he motioned him slicing minho’s throat and strangling him. he immediately stopped when his ex turned back towards him, all innocence back.

Ah, there was his little cherished one’s horrible personality that he’s come to love.

Minho smirked, obviously getting the hint that jisung was threatening him to go along with it and fake date him or else he might kick his ass. Which apparently he can do, much to minho’s surprise.

Being the ass that he was, minho was going to deny it right in front of jisung’s ex. He really was. It wasn’t his problem. He was only sent here to guard and protect. But for some reason the condescending and smug look on the other guy’s face bugged the hell out of him. he dropped his gym bag on the floor.

“him? yeah right. I bet he’s just your neighbor (he was right). There’s no way someone that gorgeous could handle being with you.” He turned back to minho, eyeing him up and down appreciatively. “if you ever need a good time, my arms are wide open.” He said to him right in front of jisung, obviously liking what he was seeing.

Minho rolled his eyes. First of all, yes its true he was gorgeous. They all were actually, and that included the cherished as well. Since they were nothing like the humans, they all were incredibly attractive to the average eye. So the fact that this guy practically called jisung ugly, well just for that it proves he’s not the brightest bulb of the bunch.

making his decision, he brushed past the jerk (what a keeper), and grabs both of jisungs arms and pushes jisung to the door like he’s been wanting to do for _weeks_ now. His fingers trail achingly slow up jisung’s arm and chest, and he shoves his thigh between jisung’s legs relishing in the touch like he’s been starved for days. He makes it to jisung’s chin, pointing it up so that he could look into his eyes, a cocky smirk on his mouth.

Jisung didnt fight back, his breathing becoming erratic, and he licked his lips in anticipation. Everywhere minho touched felt like fire, and he wanted more.

“hey love, im finally back. Sorry im late for the maintenance guy, but I missed you like crazy all day today,” Minho purred, swiping his thumb over jisung’s lips that he needs to taste, like _right now_. Jisung licks his lips again out of habit, and minho had to suppress a shudder, loving the way jisung is looking up at him with such _want_.

Minho’s hand moves from his chin to the side of his neck, and he begins to lean down. jisung’s heart was beating double time, he swears he was going to hyperventilate. Surely minho wasn’t going to kiss him?

_Please god, kiss me._

Minho couldn’t stop himself from pushing even closer to jisung so that there was no more space between them. He leaned his forehead against jisung’s and pauses so that his lips were just ghosting over the blonde’s. he could feel jisung’s breath against him. Jisung swallows, pressing his palms to the door frantically to keep himself from grabbing minho right then and there and taking him right in the middle of the hallway.

Minho was fighting an internal battle. He honestly doesn’t have to go this far to pretend to be a boyfriend. A quick hug or peck on the cheek would have been enough to prove the guy wrong. He could’ve stopped, but he didn’t want to.

_You must not get close to them._

Minho almost forgets about their little audience. Almost. So he turned his head, side glancing at the annoying ex-boyfriend/maintenance guy who’s name was not even important. He was just staring at them like a deer in headlights.

He was still leaning close to jisung when he smirked at the jerk. Jisung was _so_ going to kill him for saying his next words and Minho couldn’t wait.

“I don’t mind if you watch, but im just warning you that we are seconds away from ripping each other’s clothes off. You can stay is you want, but im not sure how much you would like watching me ravage your ex-boyfriend and hear him screaming my name.” he chuckled, hearing jisung gasp near his ear. “my jisungie here can get pretty loud, if you know what I mean,” he winked seductively.

The guy swallows audibly, stuttered out a half ass excuse about needing to fix something for another client and that someone else will come back tomorrow, and then he scurried out past them within seconds.

Jisung releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Minho turns back to him with that confident smirk still on his face. Then he (reluctantly) backed away from jisung, picking up his gym back he always has with him that he dropped to the floor when he pushed against jisung.

“you owe me one, _love,_ ” he taunted. Jisung just barely hid the shudder to his breath and runs a hand through his hair. He steps away from the door and just manages to muster up a glare at his annoying neighbor, who he hates to admit just saved his ass from more heart break and humiliation.

“fine. thank you very much for helping me out. you saved me from a world of hurt and I appreciate it.” he whispered, gritting his teeth for being so vulnerable in front of this irritatingly sexy as fuck boy he refuses to admit he’s highly attracted to. Minho blinks in surprise at his sincerity, his heart aching at the thought that jisung was once hurt and alone because of that son of a bitch.

With a huff and shame on his face, jisung turned and grabs minho’s door knob, heading inside. Minho followed him, closing their door. Jisung was too embarrassed to talk about what just happened, and he certainly did not want to think about how his body is feeling right now in front of the source of his problem.

Needing time to be alone without anyone disturbing him, but having nowhere else to go, he stomps over to minho’s bedroom door. With a glare, he turns back to minho who was watching him with curiosity and then sticks his tongue out at him. “im not owing you a goddamn thing,” he declares stubbornly, “and for your information I am _not_ a screamer.” And with that, he entered minho’s room without permission and slammed the door shut.

Minho just continued to stare at his closed door. And then a devilish smile slowly creeped up on his face. “what are we, five? I can think of plenty of other things you can do with that tongue, jisungie!” he called out.

He laughed when he heard a muffled, “fuck you!” through his door. Looks like he’s stuck on the couch until his little cherished one calms down from his notorious temper.

***

Jisung leaned against minho’s door, panting and extremely turned on. He heard the soft click of minho finally going into the bathroom to probably shower.

After a few gulps of air, he whips out his phone and makes a phone call.

_“jisung why the fuck are you calling me right after working hours? You know I own a business in case you forgot and I have a ton of shit to do.”_ Changbin grumbled on the other end.

_“its been a pretty slow day and woojin is off, so im not busy at all. What’s up sungie?”_ chan says, humming a soft tune as jisung heard some clanking going on in the background. He must be cleaning up for the day.

“guys, is it illegal to break into your neighbor’s bathroom, push him to the ground and tear his clothes off?”

_“what the fuck did you just ask me? Are you for real?!”_ changbin hissed.

_“yes jisung. I think that would warrant as being illegal. And sexual harassment.”_ Chan answers him.

_“chan don’t humor him. he’s obviously just feeling horny. Jisung, go to a club or something tonight, take someone home, and quit wasting my time,”_ Changbin growls out. then, _“god fucking dammit felix, I told you I don’t want plants around here, especially in my office! Who the hell is going to water them when you’re not working? Fucking hell this boy,”_ and with that jisung heard a click. He chuckled at how frustrated changbin sounded. Finally there was someone who was able to rattle the stand offish delinquent-wannabe.

_“well then. I guess ill go too since this wasn’t something important.”_ Chan started to say. _“I have to go drop off some heating pads for sore muscles to woojin. Honestly, you think this boy would relax for a day when I tell him to,”_ he sighed into the receiver, _“see you sungie.”_ And then chan hung up.

Jisung was left by himself and his thoughts for the rest of the day, holed up in minho’s room which smelled divine if you asked him, and his bed was really comfortable. He would call seungmin, but he was probably still in the middle of his night shift with hyunjin.

***

Minho leaned against his bathroom door, trying to calm down his breathing finally. He swiped his hand through his hair in frustration, chastising himself for what he almost did.

_Don’t get close to them. Don’t get close to him._

Surely almost making out with his assigned cherished while pushing him up against a door in the middle of their hallway is fine, right?

Everything is indeed not fine.

Minho calls up hyunjin and felix.

“you got any of that liquor left for special emergencies?” he asked hyunjin desperately.

He heard him laugh on the other end. _“I take it this involves jisung. Sorry man, but I just downed the last of it the other night after my shift with seungmin. im pretty sure felix has some whiskey hidden somewhere, though.”_

Felix gasped _. “how do you know about the emergency whiskey?!”_

“you aren’t the only one struggling with this ‘don’t get close to them’ bullshit.” Minho replied bitterly.

_“oh thank god. I thought I was the only one you guys. I had to bring whiskey to work for the past two weeks now. If I don’t drink something to take the edge off, I will jump changbin. like, I don’t even care if we are in the middle of the store in front of customers. The poor boy,”_ felix sniffed into the phone, clearly not sorry at all.

“mind bringing some of that whiskey over? Because I just almost hardcore made out with jisung in front of his ex-boyfriend. In my defense, I was just being a considerate neighbor.”

Hunjin giggled really loud. _“how does shoving your tongue down your neighbor’s throat make you a considerate neighbor?”_

_“yeah man.”_ Felix joined in. _“not even I touched changbin like that…oh wait. Shit.”_ Felix cursed, thinking about the other day. _“you think woojin knows?!”_

“I think woojin has his own problems with chan,” Minho chuckled evilly.

_“hang on guys, I have to put this vase in changbin’s office.”_ Felix said.

_“what the hell are you still doing over there? Didn’t you guys close up early and go to martial arts today?”_ hyunjin questioned.

But felix didn’t answer because in the background they heard changbin yell:

_“god fucking dammit felix, I told you I don’t want plants around here, especially in my office! Who the hell is going to water them when you’re not working? Fucking hell this boy, just does whatever he wants like he owns the place.”_ Felix giggled. _“aw binnie! It really adds some life to your boring old office!”_

_“felix really has way too much fun harassing him.”_ hyunjin commented through the line. Minho had to agree. This is the most lively he’s seen felix since he’s met him.

_“we’ll be over in the morning to come get you for breakfast. That ok with you?”_ hyunjin asked.

“sure just come on in.” minho replied, hanging up and deciding to take a very long cold shower.

***

Minho was exhausted, and jisung was still shut in his room. So he went to the couch sighing. The weather hasn’t been so great lately, getting colder before it gets warmer for spring.

He lay there thinking, playing with his earring. They still were in the dark as to who attacked jisung. The guy they captured committed suicide before they had a chance to interrogate him. it wasn’t JYP’s department who dealt with those things, though. Woojin’s team were for protection and safety only.

The only clue minho had were the knives thrown at him by the door. He’s seen those knives before, but he cant remember where. They were gold and black plated, high quality. And then there was the car that sped off.

It was late into the night when he finally fell asleep on the couch, still trying to remember where he saw those flashes of knive,s and words that have been drilled into his head since he was young replaying like a broken record.

_Your purpose is to protect them. A human shield is all you are worth. If you were ever to accomplish anything in your pitiful existence, it is to make sure they thrive. They are our future._

***

Jisung finally peeked out of minho’s room late into the night. The apartment was dark and quiet, his bare feet cold against the flooring. He treaded out to get some water and maybe a snack. He didn’t have work tomorrow so he could afford being up this late. He has spent the last few hours just sitting there, writing lyrics and listening to music, trying to ignore the sounds of minho on the other side of his door.

He refused to see him after what happened earlier. Of course it would be his luck that the person he least wanted to see would end up being their maintenance guy. He forgot that his ex had a knack for fixing things.

As he passed by the living room to the kitchen, he heard a muffle of noise. He stopped and listened. He heard it again coming from the couch.

_Minho?_

He turned and headed over, just barely making out minho’s face from the faint glare of the small light in the kitchen. Minho was sweating, but otherwise laying still.

He made another noise and it sounded like a small cry. it was almost as if he was trying to scream, but too deep in sleep for the sound to come out. those were always the worst.

_Is he having a bad dream?_

Jisung decided to wake him up, placing his hand on his shoulder and gently shaking him. “yo, gorgeous jerk. Wake up.” he called out.

Minho merely rolled onto his side, cuddling into jisung’s hand, the touch unconsciously relieving him. jisung grumbled as his hand became trapped under minho.

“yah! Wake your ass up or im just going to leave you here. Ugh he’s just as annoying in his sleep as he is when awake.” Jisung cursed under his breath as he wiggled his hand free from minho’s grasp. Who knew the arrogant moron would be clingy in his sleep?

Just as jisung was trying to free his hand from between minho’s cheek and neck, he accidentally brushed against his long silver earring he always wears.

He froze in his spot, gasping as the images started to flood into his mind.

_He saw fire and destruction. People screaming and running. The place looked to be a small town or village in the mountains._

_There in the middle of a field of dead bodies was a small boy, maybe about five or six. He was just sitting there, holding on to the hand of a woman gasping for breath lying next to him. the boy looked up, staring through jisung with eyes of amber. His face was so cold and sad, all emotion frozen into place._

_The images started to swirl again, and jisung found himself looking down at the woman on the ground. She was muttering something to the boy. jisung only managed to make out a few words._

_“don’t trust them. They will come for you in a few minutes, but don’t trust them. You must protect the cherished with your life, minho. You hear me? This isn’t their fault. You need to protect them.” She gasped out, a silver glint from her ear catching the light of the fire from the distance. Jisung recognized it as the earring minho always wore._

_This must be the earring’s last memories that it imprinted on itself._

_He watched as the woman died, letting go of minho’s hand. still, minho did not cry. he silently reached over and claimed the earring as his, clutching it in his small fist. within minutes someone approached minho, telling him to follow him. minho stood up, following the man and never looking back at what was presumably his mother._

Jisung came back to the living room, breathing heavily. He must have been zoned out for at least a few minutes. His eyes watered at the intense sadness he felt, echoes of emotion left behind with the object he touched.

“you saw, didn’t you?” he heard a soft melodic voice, bringing him out of his thoughts. Minho didn’t seem mad. He was looking up at jisung with eyes like liquid amber, sweat covering his face and shirt. There was no emotion on his face, far different from the cocky smirk and playful mischievousness jisung was so used to seeing. It scared jisung a little.

“yeah.” Jisung whispered. He was about to pull his hand away, which was still briefly touching the junction between minho’ s neck and shoulder. Before he could pull back, minho softly grasped his wrist keeping it in place. He sighed in bliss at the touch, his eyes returning to normal.

Jisung watched it change color. “I get the strong feeling you are not exactly…normal, like me. Like the rest of us,” Jisung commented. He didn’t pull his hand away.

Minho chuckled. Then he let go and sat up abruptly, cracking his back from the uncomfortable position he was in. Jisung wanted to ask more about it, but let it go. Instead he asked, “what exactly happened? Back then, I mean.” He held his breath, waiting for a reply.

But he should have known that would have been too easy. Minho got up and brushed past him, heading to his room. “its cold as hell out here, and you’ve had my room long enough, _love_. I’m claiming my bed back.”

So minho wants to pretend like none of this happened? Fine by him. jisung huffed, stomping after him. “hell no! I was comfy and warm in there. You should be hospitable to your guest and let me have the bed.”

“nope.” Minho plopped onto his bed, cuddling into the blankets.

“you typical bastard.” Jisung whined. “im going to freeze out there! Not even my humidifier helps.” He continued to argue, annoying the hell out of minho.

Jisung walked over and tugged at the comforter. “at least let me take this blanket with me!” minho shot a glare at the blonde.

“no way in hell you are getting my comforter. It is like my child and I share with no one. You’re lucky I let you stay in here for the few hours that you did.” minho tugged back with such strength, causing jisung to fall forward onto the bed still refusing to let go.

“fine! be a piece of shit. Then im staying here.” And he stubbornly climbed into the bed, slipping under the covers.

“I don’t think so you irritating brat. Out. now.” Minho growled out, kicking at jisung gently this time.

Jisung humphed and buried himself even deeper under the warm covers. “no.”

“you’re not sleeping in the same bed as me.”

“yes, I am. Unless you want me to wander out into the middle of the dark and scary night by myself where there are serial killers and I end up getting murdered. I’m sure your boss would really love that.”

Minho groaned. Jisung smiled.

“look, I’ll stay on my side and you stay on your side. We’ll both sleep. Problem solved.”

“no way.” Usually minho would jump at the opportunity to tease jisung, but he’s been having a bad night and was not in the mood to play.

This time it was jisung’s turn to tease him. “afraid you won’t be able to keep your hands off of me?”

_Yes. Every single fucking day._

“no.” he rolled his eyes and turned over so that his back was facing jisung.

Jisung had a smug smirk on his face. “oh and just so you know, anything that comes over to this side will be chopped off.”

“duly noted.” Minho said with amusement to his voice, snuggling deeper into the bed.

“and if you snore, I’ll kill you in your sleep.” Jisung mumbled.

“Jesus Christ, go to fucking sleep already.”

***

Felix and hyunjin let themselves into minho’s apartment early that morning. They all had access to each other’s stuff in case of emergencies. They both had to be at work by 9am, and it was currently 7. They wanted to go get something good down at chan’s, and felix brought over that whiskey minho wanted.

When they walked noisily into minho’s bedroom, they stopped at what they saw.

“ah, guys?” felix said loudly.

Jisung buried his face deeper into the warmth while he tried to block out felix’s loud voice and the sunlight streaming into the room.

“Go. Away,” he muttered, even though it wasn’t even his own place.

Hyunjin decided to ignore the situation in front of him, impatient to see seungmin again and obviously envious of the two snuggled together. “im hungry. Let’s go grab some breakfast at chan’s,” he said, also really loud in the quiet bedroom, earning a groan from jisung’s cushion of warmth.

“Fuck off. We’re sleeping,” minho mumbled as he pulled jisung closer. Surprisingly, he went willingly. His head was resting on minho’s chest just under his chin, his arm laid across his stomach and one leg was thrown over one of his.

At that moment, minho felt relaxed, comfortable, and even happy. But he wasn’t about to look too far into that at this time.

“if you weren’t the best mattress ever I would totally kick your ass for moving onto my side,” jisung mumbled against his chest.

“actually, you’re both in the middle,” felix pointed out.

“why is he still here? Minho, make them go away,” jisung grumbled adorably with that temper of his.

Felix gasped at the audacity.

Closing his eyes, minho waved his hand towards the door. “we’ll be down in a few minutes. Go ahead without us.”

Hyunjin grinned, “fine by me.” The sooner he can see seungmin the better. And then a moment later minho heard the door close and they both were drifting off into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I Just Can't Get Enough" by Black Eyed Peas
> 
> i just could not make jisung's ex any of the other kpop idols. that would be too harsh. so he will forever be nameless lol.  
> the others probably had a bunch of ex-boyfriends too, but jisung is one of the mains of the story, so you know how it goes.


	9. Heart Afire

Changbin walked into chan’s bakery yawning at 7:30am tired and groggy, and ready for a little pick me up.

“hey hyungs,” he said to woojin and chan. Hyunjin was sitting at one of the closer tables with seungmin and some other kid, laughing about something.

“hi changbinnie! How are you this morning?” chan said happily as he was wiping the counter.

Changbin shrugged. “good I guess. Just gonna get me some coffee before I have to go meet felix up at the store. honestly, hyung! That guy is so weird! He’s literally taking over my store with all of his shit and its driving me insane!” he huffed, fixing his glasses that slid down during his little rampage. Then he started to head over to the back hallway, “you mind if I use your restroom?”

Chan raised his eyebrows at him, “ah sure. But I should warn you that felix is in there right now as we speak and-“

Changbin was just turning the bathroom door open when he heard chan’s words at the same time, and came face to face with felix. He paled when felix’s face lit up brightly, “BINNIE! Its so good to see you so early in the morn-“

Changbin slammed the bathroom door shut, holding it closed. He leaned against the door, breathing heavily in panic. Then felix started pounding on the door. “binnie? What happened to the door? It won’t open!” he felt felix jiggle the door handle a few times, but still he held on for dear life.

“oh _damn_ , felix! It won’t open on my end either! That’s so weird! You stay put while I get someone!”

From the distance changbin could hear a bunch of people laughing, probably chan and the others. He felt felix slamming on the door. “binnie, open up!”

“I don’t know what you mean felix!” he called through the door.

Then the door opened halfway, “why aren’t you opening it up, binnie?” felix said dark and sweetly, shoving his face through the crack of the door inches away from changbin’s. changbin couldn’t help the little squeak that came out of his mouth at felix’s sudden appearance.

Changbin let go in defeat, and out came a beaming felix like nothing happened at all. He grabbed onto changbin’s arm in punishment and dragged him over to the table, plopping changbin down in between hyunjin and himself. changbin seemed to be shell shocked.

Chan handed them their drinks, but changbin left his untouched on the table in front of him, just staring into space. felix nuzzled his face into changbin’s shoulder as he sipped from his bubble tea, not a care in the world.

Hyunjin giggled, obviously amused. “oh my sweetheart. I missed you while you were gone,” he leaned over changbin to felix. Felix perked up.

“hyunjin, my honey. Every second I was away in the bathroom, my heart was breaking from missing you.”

“aw felix~”

“hyunjin~” felix reached his hand out, intertwining with hyunjin’s, their arms linked in front of changbin. they stared into each other’s eyes. And then burst out laughing, separating their hands. They high-fived, shouting “OKAY!”

That snapped changbin out of his daze. “you two are fucking insane.”

“insanely in love!” hyunjin joked.

Felix gasped mockingly. “hyunjin! Not in front of the others!”

Then they high fived again, “OKAY!”

Changbin tried to get up and run for it, but then felix grabbed back onto his arm, holding him in place. And then hyunjin grabbed at his other arm holding him in place. Changbin huffed, trapped in between the two. Chan watched the exchange, surprised changbin was letting others touch him so easily.

Felix laughed joyously at the look of hatred on changbin’s face, and offered a sip of his bubble tea silently to changbin. changbin frowned for a few seconds as felix taunted him with the bubble tea with extra boba, waving it in front of his face. With a glare of pure murder he leaned forward and took a long sip reluctantly of his drink, forgetting that he didn’t want the others to know he loves bubble tea.

Hyunjin leaned his head on changbin’s shoulder, the touch relaxing him. from across the table seungmin looked up from his tea and paperwork, the corners of his lips turning down slightly. Jeongin side glanced at seungmin with amusement.

After a few more minutes, felix gets up, dragging changbin with him. “we gotta go to work and then martial arts training soon!” he said gleefully.

Changbin dragged his feet as he followed him, grumbling about how he doesn’t know why felix bothers learning how to fight at the same place as him when he clearly sucks at it. as they exited the bakery, the bell chiming, they passed minho and jisung who were just showing up. Felix skipped out, waving to them and holding onto changbin’s arm.

Jisung looked back at them as he walked into the warm place, “seems like we missed a lot,” he called to no one in particular. “since when does changbin let people touch him that much?”

“since felix came along,” Chan said nonchalantly as he added more cookies to a bin, a soft smile on his face. Woojin sighed, “that boy is such a handful.” But he chuckled, helping chan.

“well, well, well, look who decided to join us,” hyunjin called to them while reaching over to doodle something on seungmin’s charts trying to get his attention.

“I would still be sleeping comfortably if I wasn’t rudely woken up,” jisung shot back.

“sorry, didn’t mean to disturb your little cuddle session,” hyunjin smirked as minho took changbin’s place next to him. seungmin softly slapped hyunjin’s hand  away from his papers, causing hyunjin to casually shift over to minho and grab hold of his hand since he was getting no where with seungmin.

Jeongin glanced at their hands as minho rubbed soothing circles on the back of hyunjin’s, then he glanced over at seungmin who was holding his pen a little too tight, and finally glancing over at chan and woojin who were also watching. He shared a knowing look with them.

Jisung began rambling about something stupid, until seungmin had to leave for work. Hyunjin didn’t have to go in until later. Today he was wearing a sharp looking navy suit and crisp white shirt with a red and blue striped tie. His hair was a bit messy from walking in the cold wind.

Before seungmin left and said goodbye, he reached over casually and fixed hyunjin’s front bangs a bit. His fingertips brushed his forehead, and hyunjin closed his eyes and tilted his chin up more so seungmin could continue what he was doing.

Embarrassed and a little surprised with himself, seungmin muttered, “your hair was sticking up.” And then he left to the hospital quickly.

Hyunjin slowly opened his eyes, releasing a shuddering breath. No one else compares to seungmin’s touch. The small caresses he manages to sneak every time they were together was never enough, he always needed more.

“hyunjin…” woojin said softly as he sat at their table.

“I know. Just give me a minute and ill be fine,” he smiled, reassuring woojin. Then he got up to go head over to work, hoping the crisp cold air would clear his head. He waved to the others.

Minho and woojin exchanged a look before returning to their respective jobs. Jisung wanted to question it, but decided to keep quiet.

***

Later that day, felix and changbin warmed up for their special training session. They were going to be paired up with other fighters of any rank. It was just a fun sparring session to gain more experience.

Felix scoffed as he saw the wimps that were against him from the other martial arts classes.

Changbin walked over, slight concern on his face. There were a few bigger people in felix’s group and there was just no way this fairy-like boy would be okay. He placed a hand on felix’s shoulder, turning him to face him. “you sure you will be alright?”

Felix gave him a bright smile with his perfect teeth, which didn’t reassure changbin at all. “of course hyung! This is no big deal.”

“I know you’ve never done this before, but even though they are black belts, they have been training for a little longer than you and will most likely go easy on you so that you can gain the experience properly. you might still have a rough time of it, though. You can always participate in next month’s session if you want?” changbin’s heart was beating in nervousness for him.

Felix stepped closer to changbin and gave him a hug, latching his arms around his waist. Changbin stiffened, but let it pass. “aw binnie. Thank you for being worried, but I will be fine I promise!” and then he let go, making changbin miss his warmth. He helplessly watched as felix hopped on his feet and cracked a few knuckles in excitement. Changbin knew he wont be feeling so excited after getting beat to a pulp. Just because this was safe sparring didn’t mean you left without bruises, black eyes, and sprained ankles or hands.

Changbin saw a few of the others eye felix like he was easy prey, and instantly his lip curled in annoyance. If any one of them pounded on felix, changbin was going to kill them. He stepped closer to felix while felix wasn’t paying attention, and he glared at a few bigger guys from the jujitsu class.

But unfortunately, a few black belts had to go first to basically show the class how its done. Meaning he had to leave felix alone with everyone else. As he passed by a few people, he squinted at them despite his height. That was a warning.

***

Changbin performed flawlessly. He enjoyed the fight, able to release all of that pent up energy and anger he has bottled up. With fighting, he doesn’t have to be careful. It was an escape for him, especially kickboxing. He dabbled in the other forms of fighting, but he found he prefers kickboxing the most.

Normally he would prolong his fights, relishing in the work out. but not today. This time he made it quick, and tried to return to watch felix’s fights. The white belts go soon after the black belts.

He rushed out of his room, sweating and taking his gloves off as he walked briskly down the hall to one of the other rooms where he knew felix must be. He barged in, instantly looking for the annoying pink haired boy. he breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted him next in line, chatting and giggling with another random boy. he was totally at ease, and changbin instantly felt nervous again. He didn’t want to see felix cry from getting hurt or losing his fights. Even if this was just for sport, it still hurts your pride a little when you lose in front of everybody else.

Felix was called next, waving goodbye to his new friend and skipping to the center mats. Changbin’s worst fear came to life when he saw one of the bigger higher ranked guys from karate step forward.

_Oh no._

He chewed on his nail and held his breath, trying not to panic and jump in to help him. he told himself it was just because he didn’t want felix to get a broken leg or something and not be able to come into work.

Felix and his opponent bowed to each other, and then the instructor told them to begin. The guy was cocky, obviously labeling felix as a quick defeat. He struck first.

Felix dodged quickly like he’s done to changbin so many times. Then he did it again, and again. It almost looked like he was dancing, light on his feet and graceful in his moves. After another minute, changbin became enraptured, his worry forgotten as he watched felix block one of his elbow strikes effortlessly. Felix struck with a palm-heel move. The bigger man grunted.

Changbin looked at him confused. Felix just used a karate move right back at him. _but felix is taking taekwondo_.

then he switched to taekwondo (like he’s supposed to be in) and did a spinning head kick. His opponent dodged and tried to use a knee kick to felix’s stomach. Felix hopped backward, and then ran fast towards him, using a series of punches that resembled Kung Fu. The guy took the punches and stepped back off balance, but he didn’t have a chance to regain his stance. Felix was quick when he planted his feet on the mat, grabbed the clearly bigger guy that was at least twice his weight, and braced himself as he easily tossed the guy over his shoulder slamming him onto the mat. He just used a jujitsu body throw.

The instructor called the fight, and the whole room was silent. Felix was oblivious to all of the eyes on him as he huffed and fixed his bangs. He wasn’t even winded. His white belt instructor approached him furious.

“Lee Felix! Where on earth did you learn that? because if you lied about your rank, that is completely against the rules and you will be kicked out!”

Felix’s eyes widened. Oh shit! He forgot he was a white belt! Its just that he heard the guy he was against saying earlier to a buddy that he liked the small black belt kick boxer, practically drooling over how great he looked in his black sleeveless shirt and his joggers that hugged his legs wonderfully, and that _really_ pissed off felix.

Changbin was _his_ cherished one. Only _he_ was allowed to admire binnie while he beat the shit out of other people. He knew it wasn’t the guy’s complete fault. Changbin was just so cool, and handsome, and his look of anger and annoyance totally turned felix on. People were always so sweet to felix and viewed him as breakable. having all of changbin’s attention on him with that glare and anger of his was like felix’s personal addiction.

So he kind of lost it when someone else was coveting what was obviously his.

“no sir!” he lied. “I just like to watch a lot of movies!” and then he gave him a bubbly smile with a soft giggle. Instantly the instructor’s anger lessened. Nobody would believe that felix was not human and perfectly capable of picking up three of that bigger guy he just flung to the ground.

Changbin watched felix closely as he walked away light on his feet, finished with his fight. Changbin was no idiot like the others in that room. He saw felix smirk playfully before quickly skipping away to go get changed. Felix clearly used at least four different styles of martial arts flawlessly. There’s no way you can learn that with such perfection simply from movies.

Hmm, it seems his little fairy-like employee was hiding something from him. he kind of suspected it after always being able to evade him and dodge the things he threw, but changbin chose to simply think felix was just good at running or something.

After accepting the fact that felix could clearly fight, changbin was now wondering why he felt the need to hide it.

***

After spending his day at the agency again training with jeongin, a thought occurred to minho.

He hoped to god he was wrong. So he called up woojin and hyunjin. Felix wasn’t answering his phone, which meant he was still with changbin at the martial arts competition. He paced around as he waited for them. It was mid-afternoon which meant they can slip away for a little bit on break from their ‘jobs.’

Hyunjin arrived first, immediately changing out of his suit and into his black tshirt, camo pants, and black combat boots. He hated the suits with a passion. He figured he can just call in sick for the rest of the day. The head of the law department loved him like a love-sick puppy and would have no problems letting him take the rest of the day off while he waits for seungmin to finish.

Not long later, woojin finally arrived. “whats wrong?” he asked first thing, worry on his face.

Minho leaned forward, meaning to ask hyunjin something since he thought of it, getting straight to the point.

“you know ive seen those knives somewhere before. The ones the strange people from the car threw at me.”

“do you have them with you?” woojin asked. Minho shook his head.

“they were gone along with everything else when I called the agency for clean up. The other department took care of it. I stuck close to jisung not daring to leave his side.”

“what did they look like?” hyunjin asked him.

“they were a deep black, and had gold edging. High quality and sharp as fuck. They almost pierced the metal door I was standing in front of.”

Woojin looked thoughtful at that. “well nothing we can do about that since they are gone. I'm sure the others are tracking them down as we speak.” Minho scoffed at that.

“the thing is…the car they were in. hyunjin, what did the car look like that caused that accident with seungmin a little while ago?”

Hyunjin tapped his chin, thinking. “hmm, it happened pretty fast, and I was freaking the fuck out over seungmin becoming one with the road. But maybe blue? A blue sedan?”

Minho pursed his lips, not liking that answer. “that’s the same car that attacked me.”

“so what does that mean? I doubt that’s a coincidence,” jeongin commented. Woojin nodded, he took the words right from his mouth.

“what if…what if that wasn’t just some casual hit and run like we thought? I hate to suggest this, but what if they somehow know about seungmin’s gifts specifically and I don’t know, planned it?” minho bit his lip, the more he reasoned it the more it seemed likely.

Hyunjin growled at the thought, “you mean to tell me that you think seungmin was the target and not the bicyclist?”

“its…possible. Seungmin has a sort of god complex. He feels like he has to save everybody he sees die. The more unsuccessful he is, the more careless he becomes. Like how he just charged into the street. If our attackers know that, then it wouldn’t be that hard to stage an accident. The bicyclist must have been someone at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Woojin reasoned.

“or they purposely targeted someone near seungmin in the moment. Its kind of hard to time it just right, but not impossible,” Minho added in. “and then when they didn’t get seungmin, they tried jisung. They _are_ best friends after all. They tried a time they knew I wasn’t going to be there, waiting for him. But they didn’t plan on jisung beating the shit out of them.” He swelled with pride and chuckled. His little cherished one was like a rabid animal, and it was the most adorable thing ever.

“shit. The more we talk about it, the more im starting to believe it. my question is how did they know you weren't going to be there minho? Your schedule is all over the place.” Hyunjin ran his hands through his hair in agitation.

Minho thought about it. “the only ones who knew I was here at the agency and not at my dance class was you guys, and anyone else that was here…” he trailed off, his eyes widening in fear.

Woojin stood up abruptly, jeongin following him. “if the only ones who knew you were here at the agency were the people at the agency, then they know we are here right now and not with our cherished.  So far they only know about jisung and seungmin, but it wont be that hard to figure out who mine and felix’s cherished are. We are supposed to be the only ones who know, but its not completely full-proof.”

Jeongin’s face was filled with panic. “hyung does that mean someone from the agency is targeting the cherished?!”

Hyunjin’s face filled with fear. “dammit.” Hyunjin started running towards the hospital, still in his combat outfit. he grabbed his cell phone and a Bluetooth ear piece to keep in contact with the others while he runs. Woojin whips out his own phone, taking action. Before he can even dial anything, his phone goes off with chan’s number flashing across the screen.

“please listen to me woojin! I have a bad feeling. Something is happening, but I don’t know what. All I know is that someone close to me is in danger, but that’s it!” chan panicked on the line, frustrated. “it happened as soon as you left, but it got worse the longer you were gone.”

“I know. Stay where you are,” he ordered chan. Chan didn’t question it, hanging up. Woojin turned to jeongin. “go to him, you’re faster. I need to contact felix.” Jeongin nodded and took off.

Woojin dialed felix’s number, but got nothing. He whipped his head to minho, who was trying to contact jisung with no luck. He dialed chan’s number again.

“I need changbin’s number.” Chan gave it to him, and then woojin took off towards the gym, dialing his and felix’s number back and forth.

Minho was already hitting the ground running. Jisung wasn’t supposed to work today, meaning he was at the apartment. ‘Supposed to be’ being the key words. They already found him there once, they could do it again.

***

Hyunjin charged through the hospital doors, panting heavily. An alarm was blaring, screeching out codes and hospital procedure for emergency situations like these.

Guns were going off in the hospital, people screaming and running around to get out of the way. Hyunjin was searching frantically through the mix of medical professionals trying to patch up wounds, and patients scattered throughout the chaos. His focus was only on one person.

“guys, I think I lost seungmin, I cant get a location on him. there's bullets flying everywhere! Are we sure he's the target?” he said worriedly into his ear piece.

He didn’t bother to listen to the response coming on the other end though, because suddenly he caught a glimpse of a familiar long white coat and someone going down hitting the ground hard.

Hyunjin wasted no time. He hit the ground running, his black combat boots pounding on the white flooring. He was running at an inhuman speed, not even bothering trying to hide it in the pandemonium happening around him.

He jumped over medical equipment and dodged more bullets firing into the hospital. Only a long black nurse’s desk separated him from seungmin. with one hand, he hoisted himself onto the desk and started running across it at top speed, hopping over computer monitors and phones. But he was a perfect target for the shooters being up that high, so towards the end of the desk he ducked down and slid the rest of the way, knocking wire baskets off the sides letting papers fly everywhere.

He made it to the edge and jumped down into the large aisle between one nurse’s desk and another. He saw dress shoes peeking out from behind the other long nurse’s desk on the other side of the aisle, and then he saw smears of blood.

“oh no. oh no, oh no, oh no.” he muttered as he hurriedly made his way behind the desk, half in a crouch half in a crawl.

More people were screaming around him, but in that moment they meant nothing to him.

Seungmin was huddled under the desk shaking, his bloody hands covering his face. He was whispering to himself and hyunjin had to lean in closer to hear what he was saying.

“I tried to warn them,” his voice quivered. “I tried to warn them, but they didn’t listen. why does nobody ever listen? I saw it happen. I _knew_ it was going to happen. If only I had more time! I couldn’t save them. Any of them.” He sobbed.

“seungmin, are you hurt anywhere? I need to make sure you aren’t injured. Is that your blood all over you?” hyunjin was quickly assessing the damage. Seungmin had blood covering his hands and wrists, and more blood spattered his white coat, especially in the chest area. Hyunjin was going to have a heart attack if he found out seungmin was shot.

Hyunjin tried to gently pry seungmin’s bloody hands away from his face, but seungmin refused to budge. “seungmin, I need to make sure you are okay,” he said as he forced seungmin’s hands again, this time succeeding.

“No! don’t look at me!” but it was too late. Seungmin looked up at hyunjin, his eyes glowing a wine red color.

Hyunjin sucked in a breath. “damn, you really are one of the cherished, aren’t you?” he whispered.

The shooting suddenly stopped, but people were still freaking out. hyunjin peeked up over the desk to assess the situation. Dammit, he felt so useless! He should’ve been here when this went down. he should’ve been near seungmin so that he didn’t have to go through this alone. All he could do now was thank god that seungmin didn’t try to jump in front of a bullet or something to save someone.

With his and seungmin’s schedules being so damn different, its making it harder to protect seungmin at all hours of the day. but they weren't supposed to interrupt the cherished’s normal lives.

He looked at seungmin, his eyes still glowing a wine red. Seungmin was trying to breathe, calming himself down. he’s had a whole lifetime to get used to the death and aftermath of his visions. Hyunjin reached up and brushed some of his hair aside gently off his forehead. Seungmin leaned into the touch, taking comfort in it. he closed his eyes and exhaled a shaky breath.

“aren’t you afraid of me? Or at least curious? You keep getting caught up in my crazy situations,” seungmin whispered. Hyunjin smiled, carding his fingers through the younger boy’s disheveled hair.

“trust me. My world is a lot more crazy than yours,” he replied. Then he asked, “why do you do it? why do you try to save everyone you see die?”

Seungmin kept his eyes closed. “why was I given this gift if I cant use it? after my parents…I hated myself. I cursed every waking day. I cursed every single time I saw something tragic happen and couldn’t do anything about it. I felt helpless and weak. I sometimes still do.” He paused, then opened his eyes, the color turning back to normal. “so then I realized: if I cant save anyone using my gift, I could at least save people in a different way. I became a doctor, trying my best to bring people back to good health. That was where I found the answer. It doesn’t work all of the time, but sometimes im able to see a patient dying, and get there in time to prevent it. only sometimes though…”

Hyunjin studied his face, searching. In front of him was a boy doing the best he can. He really is selfless, and caring. For some reason, hyunjin wanted to protect him forever. not because he has to, but because he wants to. But he cant do that if seungmin is always unintentionally (and sometimes intentionally) getting himself in danger. He doesn’t think he could handle it if something happened to seungmin.

Making a decision he knows he will never regret, he takes out a knife from his camo pants and slices a cut across his palm, just deep enough to bleed.

Seungmin looked down confused, then widened his eyes. “what the hell? Did you just cut yourself? I may be a doctor, but you cant just go around hurting yourself-"

“quickly, kiss it.” hyunjin ordered, his eyes turning bright amber.

“im sorry, what now?”

“kiss it. I don’t have time to explain, but if you want me to protect you, you have to kiss my hand.”

“what in god’s name-" seungmin spluttered.

“seungmin, look at me. I'm not normal, you're not normal. Don’t question this and just do it.”

“are you in some kind of cult? Because would you like to take the time to learn about our lord and savior Jesus Christ-"

“damn you are a stubborn one!” hyunjin sighed in frustration. “no wonder you and jisung are best friends. im starting to see what minho has to deal with on a daily basis-“

Seungmin decided to get serious, taking in hyunjin’s amber eyes. “what will happen if I kiss your hand?”

Hyunjin looked over at him in shock, he honestly didn’t think seungmin was going to believe him about anything. “long story short, bad people are after you and I was assigned to protect you. You aren’t technically kissing my hand, but rather my blood. After that, I will be able to protect you whenever you need me to.”

Seungmin searched his eyes, looking for a sign of humor or teasing. But he found none. He leaned over, taking hyunjin’s hand and softly pressed his lips to his outstretched palm. Once he was finished he looked up, his eyes glowing a bright red color so vibrant it almost looked neon.

Hyunjin smiled, his own eyes glowing a bright golden. His cut healed instantly, and he grabbed seungmin’s neck so that he could pull the younger boy closer and connect their foreheads. The touch instantly made him feel better. The best he’s felt in months.

Still keeping eye contact, to seungmin he said, “If you ever are in danger, call my name. I’ll always come to you, no matter where you are. Always.”

Seungmin’s heart beat was erratic, and he nodded to hyunjin.

Hyunjin peeked again over the desk. Things were starting to quiet down, and there was completely no more shooting.

_Huh. That’s weird._

***

Felix had his hands wrapped tightly around changbin’s waist as they were on his motorcycle headed back to the store. it was a cold but yet nice day as the wind blew in his hair. the martial arts session was a nice work out he hasn’t had for a while now. Being cramped up in the music store daily can get a bit stuffy.

He wanted so badly to lean his head against changbin’s shoulder, relishing the touch and warmth, but he knows he might cross a line if he did that. it took him forever just to get changbin to let him wrap his arms around him.

_Ill get my way eventually._ He silently promised himself with a smirk.

Up ahead coming from the opposite direction was a blue car racing way past the speed limit. Felix watched as it started to veer into their lane, coming right at them. He gasped in a breath and shouted to changbin.

“hyung! That car-“

“I know I see it. crazy motherfucker must be drunk!” changbin veered to the right, trying to avoid the car, but it kept coming at them. Felix’s phone started vibrating in his pocket, but he ignored it. there was no where else to go besides up on the sidewalk, and then there were shops and other buildings next to that.

The car was feet away from them. Felix leaned into changbin’s ear and shouted “we have to jump!”

Changbin shouted back, “are you crazy?! At this speed?! We will be getting far more than a few broken bones.”

“just trust me! Ill make sure we wont get hurt too much!” felix shouted back. Before changbin could argue back, he grabbed the older boy tightly around the waist, tilted them and kicked off so that they were falling off the motorcycle onto the side walk. Felix wrapped his body around changbin and cradled his head into his chest as he slammed hard onto the ground and they rolled a few feet.

Besides a few cuts and bruises, changbin was fine. felix, not so much. He was scraped up pretty bad, and his head was bleeding, blood dripping down the side of his face. Felix lay on the ground with changbin on top of him, he groaned but sat up shaking his head. The threat wasn’t gone yet. that was no drunk person.

His eyes glowed amber as he inspected changbin making sure he was alright. Changbin sat up and was freaking out.

“felix what the fuck!” he trailed his hands all over felix’s arms making sure he wasn’t severely hurt, not gently but he was too worried to care. Felix knocked his hands away, standing up slowly to see where the bastard in the car went. Changbin followed him, also looking around.

The car did a U turn and the window rolled down. felix’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening.

Unfortunately, so did changbin. changbin stepped in front of felix as a gun was pointed at them and three shots were fired, not missing its target. The car raced away, but felix didn’t go after it. He was too busy catching changbin’s body as he fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding chest.

Felix’s hands started shaking as he watched changbin gasp out at the pain. “binnie why in the fuck would you do that? why would you jump in front of me? _Why?”_

Changbin chuckled humorlessly. “I should’ve known I was going to die in a drive by shooting. typical. I don’t even know why I did it. I just saw the gun and I saw you and reacted.” He coughed, sweat matting his forehead. “ _never trust a pretty face_. Should’ve listened to my own words.” He tried to laugh again, but his breath got caught in his throat. He closed his eyes at the pain.

Felix’s face was covered in tears, “dammit changbin! im supposed to be the one to protect you! Not the other way around! why’d you have to go all superhero on my ass?! I thought you hated me!”

Changbin shook his head, his eyes still closed. “I never hated you.” Then he reached out his hand, searching. He brushed felix’s fingers who were currently pressed into his chest to try and stop the bleeding.

Felix sat there sobbing for a few seconds when he heard someone’s steps pounding on the concrete near them. He looked up to see woojin running towards them.

“I was going to warn you, but it seems im too late.” He looked down at felix and then at changbin. he felt heart broken as he realized what must have happened.

“woojin hyung…he isn’t going to make it. I can feel his heart beat slowly getting fainter.” At the moment changbin finally lost consciousness.

“there’s nothing we can do. We can only assure we get the bastard that did this.” woojin tried to keep it together. Losing a cherished one is never easy. he feels he failed as team leader, and he was extremely pissed and helpless.

Felix was oddly calm, which worried woojin. Normally felix would be frantic, crying uncontrollably and throwing an emotional tantrum hysterically. But he just sat there, his face turned down staring at changbin’s.

Woojin pressed a hand on felix’s shoulder. “felix? It would be best if we stay with him until…you know.” Felix shook his head in disbelief. He dragged his eyes away from changbin and looked up at woojin. His eyes glowed so bright like liquid amber.

“he’s dying. But I can save him,” he whispered.

Woojin’s eyes widened at what he was implying. With a stern voice he said, “I know you don’t need me to tell you the exact weight of those words, the consequences that will follow, and what it means giving up. Yet you still want to do this? to save his life?” woojin wasn’t judging, he just wanted felix to be completely sure he knows what he is getting himself into. As the team leader, he should be talking felix out of this. but he’s seen felix with changbin. he knows what his death would do to the younger male. He just couldn’t find it in his heart to watch felix and changbin like this.

Besides, fuck the rules. Felix should be able to make his own choices without woojin telling him what to do.

Felix nodded, and turned back to changbin with his mind made up. As the tears continued to flow down from his amber eyes, he brought out the knife he carries with him and began to dig the bullets out of changbin’s chest. This wasn’t going to be pretty, but he cant risk the bullets staying in his body once he's healed.

Changbin groaned in pain and clenched his fists, but otherwise remained knocked out from blood loss. Felix was quick and efficient. Once the bullets were removed, he took his knife and sliced his hand. he brought his lips to his own hand, and then bent down to connect them to changbin’s.

Woojin watched, not stopping him. “I trust you know what you did. I wont tell the others as long as you keep it secret. Even from hyunjin and minho.”

Felix looked up to woojin, his eyes glowing a brilliant gold and his lips painted a red tint.

In felix’s arms, changbin gasped out a breath, his eyes opening and shining a bright red color. He looked to felix, and then fell unconscious again.

“we need to go.” Woojin commanded.

***

Minho ran to their apartment building at full speed. It only took a few minutes, even though it was a couple miles away from where he currently was. It was faster than a car.

He made it in record time and rushed to his apartment.

***

Jisung was sitting at minho’s desk with his own laptop, his headphones in his ears and humming to a song loudly. He didn’t hear the door creak open behind him.

Then he felt a pair of hands wrap around his mouth and waist. He was startled and tried to shriek and bite the hand, but being muffled by whoever had him. then he was pulled against a warm chest and minho’s familiar scent of clean soap wrapped around him.

“shhh, don’t make a sound. they think you are in your own apartment, but it wont be long until they checked mine,” he softly whispered in jisung’s ear. Jisung nodded in understanding, and minho pulled his hand away from his mouth. Jisung turned and took a look at minho. He was panting heavily, sweat covered like he just ran a marathon and hair wind swept. It would’ve been sexy as hell if it wasn’t for the murderous look on minho’s face and his eyes glowing a bright amber.

Minho grabbed his hand and dragged him to a small closet in his study. It was too late to try and escape, they would notice them leaving since there is only one way in and out of the building. Their car wasn’t outside, which meant these guys went by foot or they were dropped off.

Minho bent down, going in first and quietly shoving some of his boxes and clothes aside, sitting down on the ground with his back against the wall. Jisung was starting to follow, but then they heard minho’s apartment door bash in. minho used his strength and practically dragged jisung into his lap, closing the door and trying to push the boxes back in front of them to keep them out of view just in case.

Jisung tried not to make a sound as he untangled his legs from under him so they wouldn’t go numb and crouched on the floor. He braced a hand on the wall next to minho’s head, but they were extremely cramped in the small space and jisung didn’t know if he could hold himself up for a long time in that position.

He softly grunted as he tried to readjust himself better, keeping himself from pressing into minho too much. Minho must have stopped listening to what was happening outside in his apartment and noticed jisung’s predicament. Without hesitation, he grabbed the front of jisung’s shirt and yanked him closer. Jisung lost his balance from being in a crouch while yanked roughly, and he fell forward into minho, hitting both his knees on the hardwood flooring and practically straddling minho. Both of his hands were now braced on the wall on either side of minho’s head, and their faces were centimeters away from each other’s.

despite the situation, jisung couldn’t help his heart thumping around in his chest uncontrollably. He started getting really hot, and he could feel minho’s breath on his lips. If he just leaned a little closer…

minho pressed his finger against his lips, and jisung almost thought the older boy could read his mind. He had about a million excuses at the ready, but then minho whispered closely to his ear, “I think they are looking for something. don’t move a muscle, they might leave soon.”

Jisung shivered at his closeness to minho, but nodded to him letting minho know he understood. Minho removed his finger.

They heard someone enter the office, and minho couldn’t help it. he wrapped his arms around jisung, digging his fingers into his hips harshly and pulling him even closer. Jisung didn’t protest, putting his full weight against minho and grabbing the material of his shirt on his shoulder to keep himself balanced. They could hear thumping around in the desk, the sound of something crashing to the ground, and glass shattering.

Jisung buried his head into the side of minho’s neck. He was slightly scared, slightly pissed, and his muscles tensed ready to fight. If one of them opened their door, they were done for.

Normally minho would fight and destroy any bastard that tried to cause him and jisung harm. But if they were someone from the agency who betrayed them, he needed to know what they wanted. Who knows how many of them there are? Plus they were one of his own kind, so fighting them by himself wouldn’t be easy. He cant protect jisung and fight his own kind at the same time without serious repercussions. So even though it went against his nature, he hid with jisung.

He stayed like that, jisung pressed completely into him for a solid 30 minutes before the coast was clear and he was positive they werent coming back. He could feel jisung’s breath tickle his neck. He let go of his death grip on jisung’s hips, now realizing he might have bruised the younger boy with his strength, and he ran his hands down jisung’s thighs pressing his fingers into him roughly. Jisung released a breath, keeping his head against minho’s neck and tightening his hold on his shirt. He almost lost jisung _again_ and he was starting to kind of freak out about how much that affected him.

Minho made no plans of moving from his position until jisung whispered, “I think they are gone.” He leaned back, trying to stare at minho in the dark. minho was reluctant to take his hands off of jisung, but he had to go after those assholes so that this wouldn’t happen again. Minho finally nodded to jisung, not trusting his voice.

Jisung made to get off of him, trying to shove boxes away and reaching for the door handle. He found it in the dark, turning the knob and tumbling out of the closet onto the floor in the room. Minho was right behind him. jisung helped him up.

They were silent for a few moments. Then jisung said, “well. I guess you could say we just came out of the closet.”

Minho looked at him like ‘seriously?’ jisung chuckled. “ok that was really bad given the situation.”

“I need to go after them. They cant be far, but I cant leave you by yourself.” He pulled out his phone and dialed jeongin. “jeongin I need you to watch jisung for me. We have a situation. Can you come?”

“sure hyung! Woojin returned to chan’s. ill be there in a few minutes.”

“ok, don’t delay. Im going hunting,” he said with an evil smile.

Jisung came up to him. “jeongin? that kid we saw earlier? He’s going to protect me in your place?” he said incredulously.

“looks aren’t everything,” minho said simply. “don’t underestimate him.”

Jisung ran a hand through his hair. “oh my fuck, im surrounded by you guys!”

Minho stepped closer, trailing his fingertips from jisung’s temple to the bottom of his jaw in a light caress. “because you are our cherished.”

Jisung gave him a confused look. Then minho stepped away and headed to the door. “ill be back. Stay here, and contact no one. Not even your friends. hyunjin, woojin, and felix are probably with them.” jisung nodded, and then minho was gone.

***

A few hours later, minho was panting leaning heavily on his apartment door. He was cut up pretty badly and extremely pissed off. He managed to catch one of those traitors, but they were hella strong and they had more of those damn knives. minho didn't recognize them from the agency though, which confused him to no end.

Unfortunately they got away, and minho was now bleeding. But he needed to get back to jisung as soon as possible. His vision went a little blurry from trying to travel quickly while injured and he thumped to the ground softly next to the door.

The door instantly opened with jeongin and jisung coming out into the hallway.

“hyung! You're hurt!” jeongin cried out, kneeling next to him. he looked at minho’s chest and arms, all cut up. “how long have you been bleeding for? Why aren’t you healing right away?”

Minho chuckled. “you know why im not healing right away. It began a little while ago, the touch-craze being the first signs.”

Jeongin furrowed his brows, “you mean to tell me you’ve been craving touch now for awhile and haven’t said anything?!” he chastised his older hyung.

Minho blinked, sweat covering his forehead and his cheeks flushed. “and fevers now. Sometimes at night, but not often. Don’t tell woojin, he would be worried with all that’s going on.” Jeongin bit his lip, not liking hiding anything from their team, but he understood minho’s point. He nodded, vowing not to say anything. For now.

“what do we do now hyung? You’re cut extremely deep and not healing. Plus your body is raging with fever.” Jeongin fretted, not knowing what to do, but not touching minho in case he accidentally hurt him.

“move. In case you guys forgot, I work in a hospital. I didn’t go to medical school for nothing,” jisung commanded. He looked into minho’s eyes which were burning amber again. He has no idea what they are talking about, but what he sees in front of him is an injured man that he can treat. “jeongin I need you to carry him to the bathroom floor.”

Jeongin listened to him, and soon minho was lying on the ground breathing heavily with blood coating everything. Jisung figured he was going to need stitches. He’s not a surgeon, but everyone is trained with the basics. He hoped that whatever ‘healing’ they were talking about earlier would kick in later, but until then he needs to close it up the best he can and stop the bleeding.

He patted minho’s forehead with a cool cloth and leaned over him on the floor grabbing his shirt ready to tear it so he can see the cuts better. “you know, this is not how I imagined ripping off your shirt,” he smirked trying to get minho to relax. “this is going to hurt like a bitch since I don’t have anything to numb the pain. You think you can handle it?”

Minho laughed sourly, “love, you have no idea the pain ive been through over the years. I can handle this small thing. Just make it quick.” Jisung didn’t really like the sound of that, but he focused and got to work. Minho gritted his teeth and turned his head so his cheek was pressed against the cold floor.

It took about 40 minutes, but jisung managed to patch him up and clean some of the blood. The only problem now is trying to get his fever down. he got a thermometer and tried to shove it in minho’s mouth. Jeongin left to go check up on the others with their cherished and to see if he could help them catch who did this.

Minho refused the thermometer. “open, you stubborn baby,” jisung growled out. “you sat there not making a sound as I sewed your skin back up but you wont let me take your temperature?”

Minho tried to sit up, but was too feverish and slumped back down. jisung gently helped him to the ground again and rested minho’s head on his thighs. Minho’s cheek came in contact with the skin below his shorts, and he sighed in bliss. jisung's legs were cool against his burning skin.

“the thermometer wont work. You will just freak out,” he mumbled.

“ill be the one to decide that,” jisung snapped, and he forced minho to let him take his temperature. He waited for the little device to tell him how bad the fever was while he slowly ran his fingers through minho’s sweat matted hair. minho’s breathing seemed to calm down soon after.

What felt like an eternity later, it finally beeped and jisung went to check it. he looked down, his eyes bulging. “this cant be right. This thing says you are 150 degrees farenheight! A normal fever is dangerous at 103 degrees! Im surprised you didn’t break the device.”

Minho smiled, his eyes still closed. “no, its right. It will go down eventually.”

“minho you are supposed to be dead, I should take you to a hospital! Or, I don’t know, give you some kind of medicine or something.” jisung was low key panicking, trying to logically think of something to do.

Minho shook his head. “no hospitals. They couldn’t help me even if you tried. The only medicine I need is something to cool my body down and…well, _you_.”

“me? What the fuck does that mean?” jisung didn’t wait for an answer, gently placing minho's head on the floor. He got up and went to the bath tub, turning on the faucet to fill it up with the coldest water that it could give him. while it filled up, jisung returned to minho looking down at him on the ground.

His breathing became erratic again, his whole face and body was sweaty, and he was flushed a dangerous red on his cheeks. His eyes looked back at him, dazed and teary, glowing a dim amber. Jisung licked his lips in nervousness and worry. He didn’t look good at all.

“you need to tell me what the hell is going on, and you need to tell me now if you don’t want me dragging your ass to the hospital. I can have seungmin take a look at you. I cant help you unless I know what’s happening,” he huffed. He knows it might be useless to argue with a half delirious stubborn shit like his annoying neighbor, but he’s honestly slightly freaked out. he’s used to the supernatural a little more than other people, but this is beyond his control.

Minho looked at jisung, the breathing painful and his body aching where he cant move it. can he trust jisung?

Jisung got him this far, and trusted him when he didn’t have to. I guess it was time to do the same.

“you’re cherished.” He told the blonde simply.

Jisung glanced at the tub while he listened. It wasn’t full enough yet. “cherished? What does that mean?”

“exactly what it sounds like. Cherished, blessed, gifted. There’s many words for it. you and your kind are special. There are people who fear you, and have been killing the cherished for hundreds of years. My kind were born to protect you. Im strong, and fast. I can heal quickly. I serve you for however long it takes,” he rasped, the fever making his mind fuzzy.

The bath was filled up halfway. Good enough. Jisung reached over and yanked minho’s combat boots and camo pants off (but left his boxers on) with no alterior motives. He was in ‘medical professional’ mode right now, doing whatever was absolutely necessary to make minho better. There was no room for shyness when it came to life or death. He learned that the hard way in the hospital.

He tried picking minho up the best he could. Minho tried to help. Minho hissed when the cold water hit his skin, and jisung swore he saw steam come off his skin. Minho leaned his head against the back of the tub and closed his eyes. Jisung bit his lip in worry, leaning over the side and scooping cold water to splash on minho’s chest and collar bone.

“ok, so im cherished. You are a supernatural body guard. Why is this happening to you? I thought you could heal quickly,” jisung questioned.

“sometimes…I cant heal as well. The fever will take over. Just give it some time, it should die down eventually.”

“ok, but you said the only medicine you needed was something cold and _me_. Don’t think I forgot, and don’t you dare think I cant tell you aren’t telling me everything, mister,” he argued.

Minho laughed weakly, opening his eyes staring into jisung’s. “forgot you’re smarter than you let on... You are cherished. Your touch is like bliss to my kind. Better than the best drug; addicting, pure ecstasy. If there was a heaven on earth, your touch would be it. a euphoria I never want to let go of.” He lifted his hand slowly from the water and gently touched jisung’s that was mere inches from him, sighing out in delirium.

Jisung watched what his touch did to him. minho seemed to start breathing better, his eyes slowly returning to normal. He moved his hand away from minho’s fingers and watched as he slowly started getting worse again.

“holy fuck, you’re serious. My touch really does that to you? Not to sound weird or anything, but how come you didn’t try to, you know…touch me more?” he was genuinely curious. Sure minho teased him from time to time, but that was it. he could’ve done a lot worse if his touch was as addicting as he says it is. How did he resist all this time?

Minho turned his head so that his cheek was resting against the cold tub. He didn’t answer, his body still burning like a fire. Jisung touched the water, and found it was lukewarm and not cold anymore. That wasn’t good. At this rate, minho wont make it before he manages to get better.

Jisung watched him suffer, and he hated seeing minho like this. minho was too weak to talk anymore, which was a really bad sign. If he lost consciousness, who knows if he ever wakes up?

He grabbed minho’s hand, intertwining their fingers. Minho’s breathing returned to somewhat normal, but at this rate not even jisung’s small touch would help much. He licked his lips, trying to think of something to do.

_Okay think. His body cant heal him properly until later, he’s like fucking super man or something, and the only thing that can help him right now is my touch because apparently im like a walking bag of cocaine to him. but im holding his hand and its barely doing anything, and damn his hand is slightly smaller than mine which is kind of really adorable even though he is taller than me…_

Jisung’s eyes roamed over minho, his chest and waist, and long dancer’s legs under the water. On a normal day, he totally would have been checking him out like a creep, but this wasn’t what he was doing. Although, he’s going to burn this image into the back of his mind for later, but right now was not a good time.

If his touch was what he needed and hand holding wasn’t enough, then jisung was going to have to turn it up a notch. With determination set in his mind, he stood up and took off his hoodie, then his shirt, then his jeans. He stepped into the cool water over minho and slowly lowered himself into his lap. He shivered at the feel of the water, but when he pressed himself into minho he could feel that his skin was like fire, warming him up to an uncomfortable degree.

Jisung hissed at the burning of his skin, but he wrapped his arms around’s minho’s neck and tried to touch minho as much as possible. Of course, he would much rather they be like this in a totally different situation, but right now he needs minho alive for that to happen.

Jisung was careful of minho’s cuts that he stitched up, although minho was so knocked out he probably wouldn’t feel it if jisung accidentally leaned too much into the wounds. he stayed like that for a few moments, his knees and thighs pressed on either side of minho’s waist, his chest against his, his arms wrapped around minho’s shoulders. He gently maneuvered minho’s head into his shoulder as he brought an arm up around him and stroked his wet hair. minho whimpered at jisung’s touch, his breath hitting jisung’s skin in pants.

Jisung continued to run his fingertips absentmindedly over minho’s back and shoulders, massaging circles into the weak muscles. He tried to touch minho as much as possible and it honestly seemed to be working. His body temperature was going down, and he was breathing softly as he slept. His flushed cheeks returned to their usual beautiful color.

After many minutes later, jisung leaned slightly off of minho and looked at his cut up chest. His eyes widened as he watched the cuts start to slowly heal and fade without any scarring. He worried the string he used to stitch him up would somehow get trapped in his healing skin, but it just seemed to work its way out and flutter down to the water, which was totally weird and freaky.

Minho seemed to be waking up, shifting slightly in the water. Jisung hissed out at the movement, which woke minho up completely. Minho opened his eyes so he was staring at jisung with a half lidded look. He took in jisung’s disheveled appearance, his hair messily combed back from running his hands through it, his silver earrings clinking softly against the side of his neck, and breathing heavily.

He relaxed and leaned his head against the back of the tub again putting his hands behind his head, smirking and obviously checking jisung out. “well damn, I would like to see you on top of me like this every time I woke up.”

Jisung’s face turned a bright red and he coughed, his heart beating double time and his insides filling with butterflies. He smacked minho’s chest, ignoring the comment and the way it made him feel. But then he kept his palms pressed against minho’s skin, looking down and lightly tracing where his cuts used to be. Minho shivered, but didn’t move an inch, watching jisung’s face closely.

Finally, jisung spoke up. “you were going to die from the fever. I panicked and did the only thing I could think of,” he whispered.

Minho’s eyes softened at his words. He grabbed jisung’s wrist that was still against his chest and pulled him closer again, the only thing separating them being jisung’s hands in between them. Jisung looked up into minho’s eyes. Minho could see the worry, the slight fear in them.

He brought his hand up to the side of jisung’s face, lightly tracing from his temple to the bottom of his jaw with a soft caress. jisung’s lips were so close, and his eyes flicked down to them. Jisung licked his lips again, that sinful habit of his never failing to affect minho in a certain way.

“thank you,” he breathed softly, not wanting to ruin the moment as he dragged his eyes away from jisung’s lips. “you could have left me, or freaked out and become scared of me. but still you stayed. I owe a lot to you.”

Jisung _knows_ minho could feel how hard and fast his heart was beating. To try and lighten the situation, he whispered in a teasing voice, “how are you going to repay me? Hmm?” he licked his lips again, this time on purpose, wanting minho to look back down at them. Minho did.

Jisung tilted his chin up, a silent invitation. Minho’s hands roamed around his waist, pressing his fingers hard into jisung’s soft golden skin. Jisung didn’t seem to mind the lack of gentleness. Minho leaned down so that his breath was ghosting over jisung’s lips, “I can think of a few ideas,” he whispered, his voice lowering an octave that did something very nicely to jisung’s body.

Jisung slid his hand up from minho’s chest to the side of his neck, tilting his head and ready to dive in deep, when suddenly minho’s apartment door slammed open and jeongin came running in.

“hyung! Woojin hyung wants to see you as soon as you can and-holy shit!”

Jisung startled at the intrusion and leaned away, still straddling minho in the tub. Minho glared up at jeongin for interrupting them, not taking his hands away from his grip on jisung’s waist.

“there better be a good fucking reason for barging in here.”

Jisung got up and carefully stepped out of the tub, avoiding eye contact with either of them. He missed the pouty look minho gave him when he detached himself from his hold, his fingers lingering for as long as he could until jisung was out of the tub and away from him.

“well, what are we waiting for? Lets go.” Jisung declared as he started gathering his clothes off the floor of minho’s bathroom.

Jeongin looked at him with confusion, “I don’t think it’s a good idea if you come-“

Jisung glared at him, his eyes flashing red. “I just saved minho’s ass, and there are people after me and my friends. im going with you guys and I _will_ get my answers.” His voice left no room for argument. Jeongin shut his mouth and shrugged. Jisung wasn’t his cherished one to protect, so he has no say in the matter.

Minho sighed from the tub, running his wet fingers through his hair, his silver earrings glinting in the light. “fine, jeongin tell woojin we will be there as soon as we can.” Jeongin nodded and left. Minho bumped his head against the wall and closed his eyes for a few more moments, trying to muster the strength to get up.

Today has been one hell of a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Heart Afire" by Defqwop


	10. Magnets

Minho gritted his teeth, trying to get dressed into dry clothes. His body still hurt like hell from the fever, but at least he was coherent and able to move again. He brushed some of his bangs out of his face, not bothering to dry his hair. he was still sweating a little, his body still burning.

He was standing shirtless in the middle of his room while his hands slipped over the button of his jeans, his eyes still blurry. He grunted, trying again. And again he failed. He tried taking a deep breath to calm down, and sat at the edge of his bed. He has to see woojin over at his apartment really soon. If he kept the older waiting any longer, he would get suspicious. He cant know that the fevers and touch-craze have started, he already has way too much to worry about.

And there is the slight problem of jeongin knowing now too. Oh yeah, and did he mention he broke about a million protocols and rules when he decided to tell jisung the truth about being cherished and having to protect him?

well, most of the truth.

He ran shaky, weak fingers through his hair again. On the count of three he is going to get up and button his jeans like a normal person and put on a shirt and go and lie his ass off to one of his closest friends and yeah…

One, two, three.

Ok so he couldn’t get up yet. He struggled with the zipper and button again to at least accomplish one thing at a time, but his fingers wouldn’t work dammit!

He feels so weak, and frustrated, and sweaty, and achy, and he just wants to crawl into his bed and sleep this off so that he can be strong for woojin and everyone else and…

Jisung walked in drying off his hair with a towel and already in fresh clean clothes. “hey so its freezing cold tonight, probably the last of the winter trying to kill us before the weather warms up, and anyways your little gas stove heater in the living room officially sucks ass meaning mine is superior, so ive decided you are going to be my electric blanket until my apartment door is finally fixed and…are you okay?”

He paused in the doorway, watching minho struggle with his jeans, and then just sitting there at the edge of his bed and staring off into space with this glazed and tired look.

_Uh oh_. He’s seen this look a thousand times before at the hospital. It means he’s still kind of sick, or feverish or whatever.

“minho?” he called out gently, walking closer until he’s in front of the older boy. jisung brings his hand up to his forehead, confirming what he already knew. Minho’s fever was still there, but obviously not as bad as earlier. Minho let out a breathy moan at the feel of jisung’s touch, his eyes fluttering shut. That’s something jisung is going to have to get used to.

Its almost as if minho _wants_ him.

Minho’s voice cracked when he finally spoke up. Jisung removed his hand, and it sounded like minho was in extreme pain at the loss of contact. “to be honest im still feverish,” he whispered, opening his eyes slowly, staring at jisung with dim amber eyes. “but we need to see woojin, and I cant feel my fingers, or my legs, and I cant get my damn jeans buttoned!” he growled out in frustration giving up his task and just slumping forwards in defeat.

“quit being a drama queen,” jisung tried to tease him. he knelt down on the ground on his knees in front of minho, looking up at him with a smirk.

Minho watched as jisung sat between his legs, never breaking eye contact as he brought his nimble fingers up slowly to help minho zip and button his jeans. He let his fingers linger at minho’s bare waist still giving him that _look_ , and suddenly minho couldn’t breathe. That seems to be happening a lot with him around this blonde troublemaker. Jisung licked his lips and that was the last straw…

Minho brought his hand that was resting on the bed up slowly, and smoothly ran his fingers through jisung’s blonde hair gently. Then he gripped tight, holding jisung’s head in place as he leaned down closer to his face. Jisung’s pupils dilated and his fingers traced from minho’s waist to his thighs, never breaking eye contact as he was at minho’s complete mercy.

“hyung! Hyunjin and seungmin are at the door! It seems they want to come with us to woojin's!” jeongin called from the other room. Minho blinked, letting his hand drop back to the bed, and jisung slid away from minho quickly.

He cleared his throat and stood up. “If you needed help getting ready because you're still too sick, all you had to do was ask one of us. Quit trying to take care of everything by yourself, especially when it involves me. Its my own life too, you know. I can handle whatever is thrown at me. It pisses me off that everyone is keeping me in the dark and treating me like I'm some delicate flower,” jisung nervously ranted at minho. Then he left to go see seungmin and hyunjin at the door.

Minho gripped the sheets of his bed in his hand. what the hell is he doing? He shouldn’t be getting closer to jisung.

But he couldn’t help it.

every single time jisung gives him that _look_ , he’s a goner. And his touch…he craves it so _badly_. It's not even the fact that jisung is cherished. Minho doesn’t want just any cherished’s touch. The thought of touching changbin or chan, or even seungmin doesn’t appeal to him. he wants only _jisung’s_.

Its getting worse by the day.

What does that mean? Why does his heart race every time jisung comes near him?

A little voice in the back of his head asked himself: _not why, but when? When did it start?_

Minho sighed, running his fingers through his hair again. Right now, he needs to take care of more important matters. Thanks to jisung’s touch, it was a little easier to stand up even though he was still a bit woozy. Another few hours and minho will be back to normal, no problem.

He threw on a tshirt and left with the others to go see woojin.

***

“changbin? what the fuck?” jisung ran over to his friend who was passed out on woojin’s couch. He was shirtless, but otherwise fine. Seungmin joined him, his instincts as a doctor kicking in.

“what happened to him? does he need treatment?” seungmin started assessing the state of changbin, making sure he and jisung didn’t miss anything.

“don’t touch him!” felix leaned in-between the frantic duo and changbin, his eyes glowing amber. They both looked taken aback at the serious look the bubbly boy was giving them. It almost scared jisung a little bit.

Woojin came up to them, and calmly explained, “he’s still in hyperactive protective mode right now. He and changbin got into a little bit of trouble earlier and now he’s not letting anybody near him.” at the shocked and worried looks on jisung and seungmin’s faces, woojin added, “don’t worry. Changbin isn’t hurt... It would be useless to try and check, believe me. felix wont even let _me_ near him.”

They looked over at felix, kneeling on the ground next to changbin who was sleeping peacefully on the couch. Felix bit his lip as he gently brushed some of his dark bangs off his face. Changbin unconsciously leaned into felix’s caress. Then they looked at each other, shrugging, deciding to let it go for now. Changbin seemed to be okay, just like woojin said.

suddenly, woojin’s apartment door opened, and in walked chan with a bag. He pulled out a black tshirt and pair of comfy sweats from the bag. Woojin quirked a brow up at the light haired male.

“how did you know changbin was going to need a change of clothes? I didn’t tell anyone that he was here…you know what? Never mind.” He gave chan a pointed look, who sheepishly grinned at the older boy. then he set down the clothes next to felix, who looked up at him gratefully.

Woojin herded everyone into his small but comfortable kitchen, leaving felix to take care of changbin.

Folding his arms across his chest and leaning against his sink, he looked at everyone gathered around him. chan joined him since there weren't enough chairs, and he pressed his body against woojin’s side. Woojin tried not to show how wonderful his touch felt, instead focusing on what he was going to say next.

“as you all may have guessed, you guys are in danger.”

Seungmin snorted, “thanks for the heads up. I didn’t notice, what with the guns going off at the hospital and all.” Hyunjin wrapped himself around seungmin’s arm, and jisung noticed his best friend didn’t seem to mind it. he was totally going to grill him about this later.

Then jisung realized what he just said. “what guns? There was a shoot out?!” he was about to start questioning the younger boy, when seungmin waved him off. He gave a look that said they will talk about this later. Jisung shut up and turned back to woojin.

He continued as if he wasn’t interrupted. “we are a special segment of the government that have been trained to protect those of your kind.”

“holy shit, are you guys part of the ‘X Files’?!” jisung interjected again. “I love that show!”

Chan glared at him to shut up, and hyunjin snorted.

“No. anyways, you are all ‘cherished,’ which stands for ‘god’s cherished ones.’ You are special individuals with extraordinary abilities. You can also be referred to by a number of things, ‘blessed, loved, gifted,’ but you are especially known as ‘true psychics.’ None of that fake shit people try to claim to be nowadays. Each cherished is different, no two is ever alike. Are you guys following me here?”

They all nodded.

“good. I don’t think I have to hide the fact that we have special abilities just like you. In all honesty, you aren’t supposed to know about us. We were ordered to make ourselves a part of your life as subtle as possible.”

Seungmin snorted again, “well you sure did a shitty job of that. no offense,” he added, shifting a bit in his seat so he could lean more comfortably next to hyunjin who was still hanging on him.

Woojin sighed, rubbing his temples. “we’ve had other assignments before you guys. Nothing like this has ever happened for a while. To be honest, it used to be just petty people scared of what the cherished can do. It was easy clean up, and then we moved on to a new city, new person to protect. We were starting to think that our agency was a bit overprotective of you guys. Clearly we underestimated whoever is out there.”

He ended his rant, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion. Chan put a warm hand on his shoulder and started to massage it a little in worry. To his surprise, woojin didn’t shrug him off or flinch away.

“ok so you mean to tell me that they are willing to shoot up a whole bunch of people at a hospital just to get to me? That seems a bit drastic, and sloppy if you ask me,” seungmin breathed out in frustration. He _hates_ not knowing things. hyunjin noticed his hand clenched in a fist, and slowly loosened it and started playing with his fingers. Seungmin let him, still looking at woojin and thinking of a million things that were happening around him.

“not just the hospital,” woojin answered him sadly. “this is the second attempt on jisung, and they nearly drove changbin and felix off the road earlier,” woojin didn’t dare elaborate anymore on what happened with felix.

Seungmin whipped his head to jisung, staring holes through his best friend. “this is the _second_ attempt on you?! And please tell me why im hearing about this right now!” he started chewing jisung out, who hid a little behind minho’s shoulder with a guilty look on his face.

He nervously giggled, and gripped the end of minho’s tshirt. Seungmin was ruthless when he was angry, especially if it was because one of his loved ones was in danger. “well, you see. The thing is…I was going to tell you. But you seemed busy with your hospital shifts. And really it was no big deal. I kicked the guy’s ass the first time…and well, minho and woojin hyung were here…and yeah hyunjin was with you and changbin had felix. Plus the pipsqueak over there was like backup or something and…”

“hey!” jeongin yelled from a corner. Jisung sent him an apologetic smile.

Seungmin looked at jisung with mock betrayal. “you knew about this for a while now?!”

“well, its not on purpose! Some ninja comes out of fucking nowhere with nun-chucks like a lunatic, and you know im always ‘beat the shit out of psychopaths first, ask questions later’ and then minho comes in like ‘I got this’ and of course im going to be like ‘the fuck is going on?’ and then he broke my door so now im staying with him 24/7 which is a real pain in the ass until my own door gets fixed, but then more psycho people break in like literally 3 hours ago and so yeah…” jisung ended his _very_ detailed explanation of what has been happening to him recently with heavy breaths. Seungmin blinked up at his long time friend.

“the hell did he just say?” hyunjin was the first to break the silence.

But seungmin has been his close friend for a while now, he knows jisung so well. He pretty much got the gist of what is going on and quickly compartmentalized it into a logical explanation. He sighed, letting it go for now. And don’t think he missed the part about jisung living with minho currently. The corners of his lips twitched up and he gave jisung a look.

Jisung knew that look all too well, and he tried to inconspicuously cringe behind minho again. Minho glanced back at jisung, but didn’t say anything. He was still trying to not face-plant on the floor, and he had to keep blinking his lashes to focus on what was happening in the cramped kitchen. Seungmin and hyunjin got the only two seats woojin had at his small table. Chan was plastered next to woojin’s side over by the sink. Jeongin was on a chair in the corner of the kitchen, and minho was leaning against the wall off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest. Jisung was standing next to and slightly behind him, also leaning on the wall. He didn’t know if jisung was even aware of it, but his close proximity was helping minho stay upright this entire time. He decided to remain standing, because if he sat down he didn’t think he would be able to get back up. So far woojin was too busy to notice him, but he did catch chan giving him a glance every so often.

Damn chan and his keen eyes.

“look, its late and everyone is pretty tired. How about we all pair off tonight and talk about this more tomorrow?” chan suggested, noting the tired expressions of everyone around him. woojin was about to argue, but chan shut him up with a look.

“I know we want to find out who is targeting us, and im extremely grateful that all of you were there to help us _cherished_. But the way I see it, they obviously failed in killing us so it will be at least a few more days before they try again. Meanwhile, how about we all get a good nights rest. Changbin is obviously not going to open his store tomorrow, and ill keep mine closed as well. Since the hospital is still in chaos, seungmin, hyunjin, and jisung should be allowed to take the next few days off. So its settled, right?” he blinked up at woojin, making everything sound so easy.

Woojin couldn’t argue with him, and he was obviously tired from the day’s events. He continued to stare chan down before finally admitting defeat and nodding his head in agreement. He sighed, and ran his fingers through his bangs.

“fine. but we need to make a few things clear here. You cherished were never supposed to find out about us or the agency. Right now, our head of department JYP still thinks we are protecting you undercover. And because of what obviously happened today, we have reason to believe the people in our agency aren’t trustworthy anymore, so whatever may go on in the future, it stays between us in this small circle. Everyone got that?” he glared at each of them to let them know he was serious. They all nodded, and he finally relaxed a little bit.

But his worries weren't over with yet. “I don’t want to take anymore chances with your lives. It’s a miracle all of you remained unharmed for years up until now without us protecting you. We are going to be in a buddy system now until the threat is gone. Felix and changbin can stay with me tonight. Minho and jisung can go back to their apartments. Hyunjin you are going to have to keep close to seungmin, not that it seems to be a problem right now,” he lifted an eyebrow up at hyunjin who was currently fixing some of seungmin’s hair that was still messed up from earlier. Hyunjin grinned unapologetically and seungmin got flustered, moving a little away from hyunjin.

“I, uh, have a pretty big apartment with an extra room if that would be easier…” seungmin started to offer. hyunjin nodded at him with bright puppy-dog eyes.

“and I will stay here with woojin also,” chan declared, leaving room for no argument.

Still, woojin tried. “that’s not necessary. jeongin is perfectly capable of watching over you and-“

“hyung, as honored as I am for the praise, someone has to report something back to JYP about today. It looks too suspicious and obvious if all of us disappear without clocking in with him. ill head back to the agency like everything is normal and try to smooth things out. maybe I can even get an idea on who betrayed us,” jeongin reasoned out. woojin was impressed with his youngest member. It seems he will fit in real nice later on.

“are you sure? JYP is kind of hard to convince. He’s able to smell a lie a mile away,” woojin continued to worry.

Jeongin snorted and then gave his leader a bright and angelic smile. “there’s no way he can resist this face of mine. Just look at my cute little doe eyes. I can get past anyone,” he says confidently.

Woojin blinked at the devilish glint in the young boy’s eyes.

Hyunjin laughed, “that little shit! He totally has everyone wrapped around his little finger. There’s no way JYP and the higher ups would suspect a thing.”

Chan stepped in, clapping his hands. “ok, everyone stay safe! meet back here tomorrow, but make sure to get plenty of rest.”

Minho didn’t need anyone to tell him twice. He knows he’s been oddly quiet this whole time, and the sooner he leaves the less chance woojin has to notice. In a way, he needs to thank chan for providing the perfect distraction. He turned on his heel and headed to the door, jisung on his heels.

Jeongin was the next to go, giving a little wave and heading out with a young spring to his step.

Hyunjin and seungmin stood up, intending to visit hyunjin’s place first so he could grab a few of his things. they had to take a late night bus to his apartment. Just as they were turning to leave, hyunjin still stuck to seungmin like glue, chan frowned and stepped forward, grabbing hyunjin’s arm to stop him for a second.

Hyunjin could have swore he saw a red glint to chan’s eyes. “yes hyung?” seungmin was watching him with a curious expression.

“ah, just, could you take the second bus instead of the first one?”

Hyunjin looked at him confused, but nodded. “sure…I guess. No problem, but why?”

“just a feeling I have,” and chan left it at that. woojin was watching the exchange very closely, not saying anything.

Seungmin sighed, used to chan’s ‘feelings’ and grabbed hyunjin’s arm and lead him out of the apartment. He really just wanted to be cuddled in his bed right now and deal with this nightmare tomorrow. Hyunjin followed without resistance, overjoyed from all of the attention he was getting tonight from the younger.

Once they were gone, woojin walked into the living room. He smiled sadly down at felix who was sitting on the floor, passed out. his head was resting on the edge of the couch cushion and he was holding onto changbin’s hand. changbin was comfortably sprawled across the couch, taking up all of the room and still peacefully sleeping. Changbin was in his new clothes that chan brought, meaning felix managed to get him changed. There was no evidence of his shirt with bullet holes or blood. Woojin and felix took care of that quickly before the others could arrive.

Chan walked in with a blanket, trying to lay it across changbin without disrupting felix. Woojin didn’t even have to tell him where he kept his spare blankets.

After chan was done, he stood back up and smiled at woojin, showing off his dimples. “I don’t think we will be able to move felix into a more comfortable position. He seems pretty glued to changbin’s side for now. Poor kid, he’s going to wake up with an aching back tomorrow.”

Woojin just stared at chan some more, irritated and tired, and also thankful that chan was there to help without him having to ask for it.

He moved back to the kitchen and sat down at the table, drumming his fingers against the wood. Chan started to make himself at home, getting a tea kettle ready on the stove and making whatever tea woojin had in his cupboards. He softly hummed to himself, letting woojin sit in the peace and quiet.

Woojin should be mad that chan is just taking up his space and going through his things like they are his own. But in all honesty? It didn’t bother him at all. In fact, they always had a comfortable atmosphere around each other ever since he started working for chan at the bakery. They were like a well oiled machine, and woojin was just now realizing it.

When chan was finished rummaging around, he brought two mugs of steaming tea to the small table and sat down across from woojin. He slid the mug to woojin, and woojin absentmindedly wrapped his hands around it, still lost in thought.

He watched silently as chan blew on his cup and took a tentative first sip, seeming content with how the tea turned out. chan didn’t seem to be bothered by the attention he was getting, and closed his eyes to rest his racing mind as he settled more comfortably in the chair.

After a few more minutes of this, woojin finally spoke up. It's been on his mind for a while now ever since they were first assigned to these special cherished. At first it was just a hunch, but after today he’s even more sure now.

“it was you,” he said to the light haired boy in the quiet kitchen.

Chan opened his eyes and took another sip of tea. “me?”

“it was you this whole time.”

Chan set his mug down on the table and blinked at woojin in confusion, waiting for woojin to elaborate. Woojin nodded to himself, and continued.

“You and your friends are _all_ cherished. That right there is unheard of. Usually cherished live on their own, or have normal friends and family. But to have _four_ cherished who are all friends with each other is quite a coincidence. Less than 1% of the population of the world is cherished, so the chances of you all just randomly finding each other and becoming friends is close to _none_.”

Chan didn’t say anything and continued to listen to woojin rationalize his thoughts out loud.

“Now, you cherished are _very_ important. And there are always haters after your kind trying to harm you in some way. The fact that _four_ of you are always together in one place, one city, is quite noticeable to anyone who is paying attention. But in all of the years you four have been together, not _one_ incident has occurred. Not one single time has anyone tried to harm you. And that is just not possible. Especially when you have a cherished like seungmin who draws attention to himself.”

Chan’s face remained blank and nonchalant, and woojin worried for a brief second that he was wrong and making a fool of himself. But woojin could see the knowing glint in chan’s gaze and so he continued his theory.

“Every single one of our assignments we have had to protect has come into contact with danger in some kind of way. But not you guys. It was _you_ protecting them from harm this whole time. Like just now with hyunjin. You do it in subtle ways, only noticeable if someone is looking for it. Was something bad going to happen to hyunjin and seungmin if they took that first bus?”

Woojin stared him down, daring chan to deny it. chan smiled softly, leaning forward and resting his head on his hand. he tilted his head and examined woojin in front of him.

He finally spoke up when it was clear woojin was waiting for a direct answer.

“Violet.”

Woojin looked at him, confused when chan didn’t say anything else.

“im sorry, what now?”

“I see violet when im around you. It’s faint, but there. Intelligent, wise, good intuition. There’s a reason why you are the leader of your team.”

“you see violet…?”

But chan went back to the original topic. “Yes. The first bus was going to run into some trouble with a closed road, delaying any passenger that’s on it. if hyunjin and seungmin take the second bus, they wont be stuck in traffic. It was just a feeling.” He shrugged and took a sip of his tea.

When he was finished with his mug he continued, “and it was 32 times.”

Woojin leaned forward on the table, interested in finally getting some straight answers. “32 times for what?”

“people have tried to attack or harm us in some way 32 times since I first met the others. We were younger then, a little more careless than we are now. I was able to prevent the others from getting into most of the sticky situations. Not all of them, but the major ones. We never discussed it between each other, but when I tell them to do something, they listen without question.”

“so these ‘feelings,’ are they a part of someone’s aura and you somehow read them?” woojin was so confused. He’s heard of people reading auras before, but never actually met someone who could. He has no idea how it works.

Chan shook his head. “no. the way I read auras is a bit different. I see the colors that make up a person, giving me a bit of insight into what their personality is like.”

“you are going to have to explain it a little better than that. if im going to protect you, I need to know how your gift works extensively. No more guessing games,” woojin demanded.

Chan smiled, and paused to think for a few seconds on how to best explain what he can see. “ok, aura reading is a pretty mild gift compared to what the others can do, like changbin and seungmin. its, well, ‘soft.’ No harm comes to my gifts. I've always been able to do it ever since I was little. Tell me, what do you know about auras?” he asked woojin first.

Woojin shook his head. “not much, just that people are able to read them to tell their fortune or insight about themselves.”

chan nodded at this. “you aren’t necessarily wrong, but also not right. Some people can _feel_ auras, some people can _sense_ the aura around a person. However, I can see the _colors_ of auras. And not just some of them, but all of them. I can also see the traces some people leave behind, if they make a large enough impression on that area.”

“okay…” woojin was listening carefully, because it still didn’t really make sense to him.

Chan noticed and explained it more clearly. “ok lets start from the beginning. Each person has a main dominant color associated with them. This is their aura that I am seeing. The _essence_ of their being. Their _personality_. Who they _are_. But humans are very complicated beings, and you cant categorize them into just one personality. they have many character traits. We switch moods every second of the day. We change as we grow older. And so as we constantly change, our auras are constantly changing. That means the different colors associated with our auras change as well. Each person I come into contact with has a whole swirl of colors. Some colors are more dominant than others, meaning that personality trait is one of the main ones that make up that person. You following me?”

Woojin nodded. “ok so each person has many colors surrounding them that tell you what kind of person they are. The more dominant the color the more pronounced that personality trait is.”

“good. So that’s the basic of what I can do. however, I can take it a step further than that. Now, the _shades_ of colors also are important. The brighter the shade the…'happier' I guess they are? No, that’s not quite the right word for it.” he took another moment to think about his words.“the brighter their aura, the more **_life_** they have in them. The more pure of heart they are. They are _alive_. The darker the shade…the heavier their heart is. And when there is no color, only purely black….” Chan shivered at the implication, looking down at the table.

He looked so distraught by the thought that woojin had the urge to reach across the table to grab his hand. he almost did.

But he stopped himself. he curled his fingers tighter around his mug and patiently waited for chan to come back from his thoughts.

Chan looked back at woojin, his eyes glowing red. “ill give you an example of what I mean. When I first met changbin, he was Red. His whole essence was red. I could see bits of other colors too, like blue and green. But it was dominantly red. But every color can mean a variety of things. the more I get to know a person, the easier it is to decipher what their colors mean. Changbin’s red didn’t mean love like what most people would assume. His red was like fire. He had passion, anger, strength, fear. Then his blue mixed in. it was sadness, but also moodiness, and most of all loyalty. His green showed he was compassionate, but also was capable of extreme jealousy. All of those traits make up who changbin is as a whole. But the _shade_ of red was a bit concerning when I first met him. it was a dark shade, not very vibrant. Like someone colored red crayon on a white piece of paper, and then mixed black charcoal dust with it.”

“was changbin troubled in some way?” woojin asked softly.

Chan smiled weakly at him, his eyes dimming back to his normal brown color. “yes. Heartache and pain can dampen a person’s aura, causing the change in shades. But its not permanent, and with time a person can heal. He’s healed…in fact he’s even better than he was before you five came crashing into our lives.” He chuckled softly as he glanced into the living room where felix and changbin were sleeping. “specifically one of you out of the five.”

Woojin followed his gaze into the living room, seeing a speck of light pink hair. “is it felix?” he quietly whispered.

Chan’s eyes looked back at woojin fondly. “you don’t even have to ask. You are no fool woojin, and I know your eyes are perfectly capable of seeing what's in front of you.” He turned his head again in the direction of felix, his eyes glowing a bright red again. The constant change in color was starting to give woojin a headache. “felix's colors are brighter than yours, and minho’s and hyunjin’s. jeongin’s is even brighter than felix’s. I’ve never seen anything like it. its…fascinating.” Chan turned his red gaze back to the older male. Woojin felt uneasy under his bright eyes, like chan could see through to his soul. He shifted slightly in his seat.

“felix is Yellow mostly. Optimistic, happy, friendly. But he also has strong colors of orange and pink. He’s courageous, thoughtful, ambitious. He’s full of love, sincerity, and friendship.” Chan smirked at woojin. “Red and Yellow mix quite well together, don’t you think?”

“so you can do this for everyone? Can you read your own aura?” woojin wondered out loud. hearing chan talk about his gifts was in a way very _beautiful_. He makes it sound like a pretty picture only he can paint.

“ah, I can read my own aura in a way. Only if I rub off on someone else am I able to detect what kinds of influences I have on others. Its kind of confusing even for myself. Our auras can leave imprints on the things that are most important to us. We leave marks on this world all over the place, and we don’t even realize it. think of it as seeing a very colorful dusting of powdered sugar, or glitter, sprinkled all over the place. Through my eyes, the whole world shimmers in colors. Our emotions, a piece of ourselves, are left behind on the places that matter most to us.”

Chan reached over and grabbed woojin’s hand. woojin let him study his palm and trace his fingers lightly on his skin.

“your aura is violet, indigo, red, green. I can see slight glances of it, but nothing more.”

Chan still held woojin’s hand, the touch sending shivers of bliss shooting down his arm. Woojin really should pull away, but the more he gets to know chan, the more intrigued he is.

“how did you know about us, the five of us? And tell me the truth.” woojin knows Chan was never surprised about anything, which was one of the main things that irritated the hell out of him on a daily basis.

Chan laced their fingers together, with no intentions of letting go anytime soon. He ran his thumb over woojin’s hand, watching as his silver thumb ring contrasted with woojin’s tan skin. He loved colors. How could he not when he is one of the only people that can see so many of them?

“I always knew you five were special. Your auras…they are _beautiful_. In fact, all of ours are beautiful. Its not like the human’s auras, which are dim in comparison. That’s how I found changbin, jisung, and seungmin so quickly. Our colors _shine_ , like we have halos around us. Almost like angels.”

“is it like that for me and my kind as well?”

Chan shook his head. “no. you, minho, felix, hyunjin, jeongin…your auras shine, but not like ours. Your auras _radiate_. Its just so powerful, and alluring. You all have such strength, charisma. I’m drawn to it like a magnet. Even right now, although its faint, your aura just kind of… _wraps_ itself around me. I feel safe and protected. My soul feels content. Its not something I even knew I was missing until you leave my side for the day. And then when you come back, I feel better again.”

At this, woojin raised his brows in shock. He didn’t expect that, especially with what he was born to be.

Chan stopped staring at their linked hands and looked back up at woojin under his lashes. “do you feel a little bit of it too?”

Woojin glanced at their hands, at his touch. The fight was slowly starting to leave him the closer to chan he becomes. He shook his head, still looking down. he missed chan’s frown and slight look of disappointment at that.

But then with a small voice woojin continued, “No. I don’t feel a little bit of it. I feel _all_ of it. I feel it with every waking second I am alive, with every breath I take,” he glanced back up at chan, tightening his grip on his hand and bringing his other hand to connect with chan’s across the table.

“and I don’t know what that means, and that scares me.”

***

Minho was slow-going up the stairs to their apartment, but jisung didn’t complain. He bit his lip, wanting to help but thinking minho would snap at him for interfering. The prideful asshole.

Jisung let them into minho’s apartment, closing the door carefully as minho dragged his feet to his bedroom. Minho was oddly quiet and didn’t argue or tease him the entire time they were out and about. Jisung hates to admit it, but that worries him.

He followed minho to the bedroom, watching as he just kind of fell face first onto his bed in exhaustion without even changing into comfortable pajama pants or anything.

“minho, you should change into something comfy, you will feel better,” but he got no response from minho. Sighing, he walked over to the edge of the bed and reached out to feel minho’s forehead. Minho didn’t even respond to his touch like he normally does, and he still felt uncomfortably warm and sweaty.

Turning on his heel, jisung walked out of the room and into the bathroom to get a cool cloth with water and some medicine. Then he came back in, set the items on minho’s dresser briefly, crouched down, and rummaged through minho’s drawers until he found what he was looking for.

Standing up straight, he walked over to minho on the bed. This wasn’t going to be an easy task, but jisung would be damned if he let minho sleep in jeans and a sweaty tshirt.

“minho? Hyung! Roll over so I can help you get changed,” he shook minho’s shoulder. Minho grunted, but didn’t move. “minho I swear to god, im tired and don’t feel like fighting you. So help me out a little here?” he tried to be firm, but the older boy just hummed and ignored jisung, moving to cuddle into his bed more.

_Oh I don’t think so, you little piece of shit._

Jisung set the clothes down gently on the bed to free up his hands. Then he grabbed minho forcefully and rolled him onto his back. He gripped the edges of minho’s shirt and started to yank upward.

That got minho’s attention. His eyes shot open and his hair became messy from jisung yanking his shirt over his head very harshly. “what the fuck jisung? Cant I even sleep in my own room without you giving me a hard time?”

He continued to bitch, but jisung ignored him as he then targeted minho’s jeans. He unzipped and unbuttoned them, then started dragging them off the dancer’s beautiful legs.

“hey! What the hell?! This is sexual harassment! No, this is practically rape! I cant believe you are trying to de-flower me in the space of my own home! Have you no shame?!”

Jisung glared up at him with a huff. “minho, shut the fuck up and quit your whining.” Then like a nanny who was dealing with a difficult child, he grabbed the clean tshirt, shook it with a snap, and started yanking it on minho’s head. Next were the pajama pants. Minho was too weak to do much more than grumble, and he eventually lifted his hips slightly so that jisung could pull the pants all the way up.

Under any other circumstances, jisung would be turned on by the situation they were in, but not this time. He was too tired and had one hell of a horrible day to think about much else. He looked down at minho, who slumped back onto the bed and started dozing off. Jisung’s work was almost done.

He not so gently shoved minho to the other side of the bed so that there was more room for him, and then pulled back the covers. He walked over to the dresser where he set the other items he brought, and then returned to the edge of the bed. He nudged minho awake again, earning a glare from the brunette.

“hyung, take this medicine and water. Don’t fight me on this or I swear ill shove it down your throat,” jisung stood his ground. Minho weakly did as he was told, lifting his head with obvious effort. Once he was finished, he dropped his head back on the pillow. Jisung leaned over and gently placed the cool cloth on minho’s forehead, unsure if that would even help.

Setting the now empty water glass onto the nightstand next to the bed, jisung rummaged through minho’s drawers again to pull out an over sized shirt and baggy pair of shorts for himself, not caring that he didnt get permission from minho. once changed, he crawled into the bed next to minho and pulled the blankets up, taking care to make sure minho was properly covered.

Minho really was like a personal furnace next to jisung warming him right up from the chill that was in the air, and soon he fell into a peaceful sleep.

***

Jisung woke up lying on his back to sunlight streaming into the room and feeling uncomfortably hot. Plus there was something heavy holding him down. he opened his eyes, trying to blink away the sleep. He turned his head to the side, then he glanced down at what was making it hard for him to breathe.

He lifted his head slightly, unable to move his body.

_What the fuck?_

He must be seeing things, because if this was real then his heart was going to explode at the sight just inches from his face.

There, practically on top of his chest was minho’s face. Half his body was on top of jisung, and his legs were intertwined with jisung’s bare legs. His arms were curled around jisung’s waist. The blankets were practically kicked off the bed, the sheets all messed up.

This wasn’t what had jisung breathing like he ran a marathon. It was the fact that minho somehow took off his own shirt in the middle of the night and then without jisung waking up, he lifted jisung’s shirt up to his neck so that they were touching, skin to skin. When jisung said minho’s face was on his chest, he meant his _chest_. Minho’s bare arms were tightened around jisung’s bare waist, and all of it was _electrifying_.

Jisung dropped his head back onto his pillow, trying not to groan.

Here he was, in the bed of the hottest boy he has ever seen, practically half undressed while said boy is clinging onto him.

_What kind of k-drama bullshit is this?_

Jisung glanced down at minho’s sleeping face. He has no idea how minho got himself into this position, and he has no idea how he himself didn’t wake up from this sooner. But right now jisung can clearly see how long minho’s eyelashes were fanning across his cheeks in the sunlight, and how pretty his lips were shaped, and just how delicate his face looked. It was unfair really. Minho was beyond gorgeous. Everything was perfect about him, even the little freckle on the side of his nose that jisung suddenly wanted to kiss. jisung’s fingers were itching to brush through minho’s hair, or trace the curve of his bare shoulders and back, or intertwine with minho’s fingers. his heart started beating loudly at the thoughts, and he was worried minho could hear it, what with his ear pressed to his chest and all. Minho’s even-breathing softly tickling jisung’s skin was the only indication that he was still sleeping.

This was pure torture, and jisung wanted more of it.

Jisung knows exactly what this means, but he refuses to acknowledge it in this moment. Especially after what almost happened between them yesterday. He’s not as oblivious as he tries to be.

Jisung continued to lay there, calming his racing heart and listening to minho’s soft breathing. He was lost in his thoughts until he started to feel minho shift and stir. His breathing became faster and jisung knew he was about to wake up.

He panicked. How was he supposed to explain to minho that he let him just cuddle him for almost an hour after waking up? They were supposed to hate each other, or at least dislike each other at the most.  

So jisung did the only thing he could think of in that quick moment. He pretended to sleep, closing his eyes shut and making sure his breathing was slower.

He felt minho wake up and shift around. his head lifted off of jisung’s chest and his arms unwound from jisung’s waist. Minho’s fists pressed into the mattress on either side of jisung’s body, and he slowly lifted himself slighty, the dead weight leaving jisung suddenly. Jisung wanted to frown in disappointment. Despite it being a bit warm and uncomfortable from his weight and heat, jisung wanted minho right back where he was. He wanted to reach out and drag minho back down on him so he could finally run his fingers all over him like he’s been wanting to do since he woke up.

It was silent in the room and minho didn’t move an inch, still hovering over jisung. It was almost as if he was debating something. jisung wanted to peak an eye open and study his facial expression, but he kept his cover and pretended to sleep.

He felt one of minho’s hands move finally, and then _almost_ flinched when he felt something brush his hair out of his eyes. Minho traced his fingers down the side of his face to his jaw, and then over jisung’s lips. Jisung wanted to moan out loud. minho’s touch was scalding, like he was burning alive, and it felt _wonderful._

Is jisung’s touch half as irresistible to minho as minho’s is to him?

Jisung has been with a few lovers in his years, and nothing felt quite like minho’s touch. Minho continued to trace jisung’s bottom lip and then dipped further, lightly caressing his throat, over his bunched up shirt at his collar, down his chest and across his waist. It was all too much for him. jisung couldn’t hold in a breathy sigh, almost letting out a needy whimper along with it.

Minho stopped his exploration and jisung figured the gig was up. Still, he tried to make it look believable. He pretended to shift and scrunch up his face like he was just waking up. Minho quickly rolled off of jisung and sat up on his side of the bed. Either jisung was a better actor than he thought, or minho was dumb, still feverish, or too sleepy to notice that jisung was awake the whole time.

Jisung yawned and rolled over onto his side so that his back was facing minho. He tried to get his breathing under control and his heart back to normal before sitting up and facing the source of his torture. His mouth was dry and he felt like he needed to dunk his whole body in an ice bath.

He blinked up at minho, who was currently running a hand through his messy hair, his whole body lit up from the morning sunlight. Jisung’s shirt slid back down in the proper position as he shifted on the bed. He continued to stare at minho as he took all of him in.

Something deep within jisung was telling him to grab onto minho and never let go. It was a sudden impulse that he felt, awakening all of his senses. He felt something dangerous in him, an urge, a _possessiveness_ start to take over. It was almost as if his soul was screaming out at him to claim what was theirs before it was too late.

_Too late for what?_

 Minho tilted his head in confusion at the look in jisung’s eyes, noting a slight red glint to them. “morning?” he said to the younger boy with a sexy morning voice. Jisung shivered at the sound and snapped out of his trance.  

Deciding to ignore the strange feeling, he glanced around at their bed. The blankets completely fell to the floor, minho’s shirt was kicked down to the bottom of the bed, and his cool cloth that is long dried is laying on his pillow. “what the hell happened last night?”

Minho chuckled, “looks like it was pretty wild,” avoiding the question.

Jisung partially glared at what minho was implying. “or you are just a really messy sleeper. Where’s your shirt? I'm pretty sure I put one on you before going to bed.”

Minho glanced down at his bare chest and then looked back up at jisung with a confused expression. “you tried to take advantage of me after all?” he suggested.

Jisung snapped and took his pillow and started to beat the shit out of him with it. “would you quit acting like im some desperate horny teenager who cant control himself! I know it may be hard to believe, but not _everybody_ is hopelessly attracted to you! You wouldn’t catch me in a thousand years putting a move on you!”

Ok so jisung lied a teensy bit, but he wasn’t going to let minho know that. he would rather die in a ditch.

Minho put up his arms to block jisung’s beatings, laughing out loud. it was the most beautiful sound jisung had ever heard. And he hated himself for loving it, so he decided to beat minho even harder with the pillow.

After minho was done laughing and catching his breath, he grabbed the pillow from jisung with his inhuman strength and threw it across the room. Jisung was stunned, but didn’t have time to process how fast minho moved because the next thing he knew, his hands were pinned to the mattress and minho was hovering over him, his face extremely close.

Jisung gulped at the sudden change of events.

“oh really? You feel nothing for me? Not even the _slightest_ bit of attraction?” minho purred in jisung’s ear.

“none.” Jisung said defiantly without hesitation.

But minho didn’t take the denial seriously. All he heard in his ears was that jisung was presenting a challenge. Minho loved challenges. He smirked down at jisung, lacing his fingers with jisung’s and keeping his hands pinned to the bed.

Suddenly jisung was afraid. Not of what minho was going to do, but of what minho was going to make him _feel_.

“you know what I think?” minho asked, leaning into jisung’s ear again, his hot breath fanning over jisung’s neck.

“I don’t care what you think, now get off of me,” jisung said stubbornly.

Minho ignored him, slowly tracing the tip of his nose down the side of jisung’s neck. “I think you’re lying,” he whispered into the skin of jisung’s collarbone, his lips brushing against him.

Jisung let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he denied weakly. Minho traced his lips back up jisung’s neck, softly kissing jisung’s beating pulse. Jisung’s eyes fluttered shut in pleasure, his fingers involuntarily tightening with minho’s.

His resolve was crumbling, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Normally minho would relish in the fact that he was winning this game they were playing. He always loved to tease his partners, slowly torturing them until the fight was gone.

But not this time.

This time, he didn’t give a damn about teasing or getting jisung to give up a tiny bit of his stubborn pride. Because once his lips touched jisung’s skin, all thought left his head except for one: _jisung_. He didn’t want to play, he didn’t want to tease and draw out the moment for as long as possible like he usually does with everyone else. he finally got a taste of jisung and he wanted more, and he wanted it _now_. The need was unbearable.

Before he could stop himself, he lightly scraped his teeth on jisung’s neck and then licked the spot to soothe it. jisung whimpered, his thoughts of fighting minho off of him completely shattered. minho moved his lips down his neck a little and kissed harder, _almost_ leaving a mark. He was breathing hard against jisung’s skin, blinking to try and get his heart to stop thumping wildly in his chest. His mind was telling him to stop, to not get close. But he’s never felt like this before, this hunger to take this blonde boy under him and make him completely his. He’s never wanted something so badly in his life more than he wants jisung in this moment. And it scares the hell out of him.

That fear was just enough to make minho stop. He loosened his hold on jisung’s hands and propped himself up to look at jisung. Jisung opened his eyes. They were glazed over with a bright red glow glinting from them. His hair was a mess on the sheets, his mouth slightly open, giving out slight little pants trying to catch his breath. Minho has never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life.

He sat up and leaned away from jisung, releasing a nervous chuckle. “nobody can resist me, love. Its just how it is,” he said, trying to break the sexual tension in the room. Jisung stayed still for a few moments, trying to collect himself and get his thoughts straight.

For some reason that really pissed jisung off. He sat up abruptly and glared at minho with that familiar fire in his eyes. Minho almost breathed out a sigh of relief. This is good. Jisung being mad at him is good.

_Its safe._

“I take it you are feeling better after your fever. You never really gave me the answers I was looking for, you know,” jisung stated, ignoring what just happened between them. He crossed his arms on his chest and stared minho down.

“the answers you were looking for? Didn’t woojin pretty much explain the gist of things last night?” minho questioned.

“no, he avoided a lot of things, and you guys are stupid if you think me, chan, and seungmin are buying it. hell, even changbin would catch on.”

Minho made himself more comfy on the bed, crossing his legs and resting his elbow on his knee, leaning on his hand to listen to jisung.

“so, love, what is it that you want to know specifically?” at this point, he doesn’t want to lie to jisung anymore.

“what are you?” jisung asked bluntly, demanding.

Minho blinked at jisung, debating. Jisung could see the wheels turning in his head.

“im not supposed to tell you. Are you sure you even want to know?”

Jisung scoffed, “I think I have a right to know what kind of _being_ is protecting me 24/7, don’t you think?”

Fair enough. Minho could reason with that.

He sighed, trying to think of the best way to explain this. “im a daemon.” Minho said right off the bat.

Jisung frowned at him. “you mean a demon?”

Minho rolled his eyes. “no, my kind are nothing like _them_. I’m a daemon, or a daimon. That’s D-A-I-M-O-N. it goes both ways. We are commonly found in the ancient Greek religion. Our kind is described as benevolent beings of the same nature as both mortal and deities. We kind of float in between. We aren’t mortal, but we aren’t gods either. Other translations and ancient scripts describe us as ‘natural spirits that are less than divine.’ We are basically spirits that watch over and protect either a person or a place. At least, we are supposed to protect you guys. For some reason, somebody is betraying us at my agency and its pissing me off that you are being put in unnecessary danger.”

Minho ended his explanation, watching jisung’s face carefully. Jisung looked at him incredulously. minho guesses that was a better reaction than he could hope for. Other people would be calling him insane right about now.

Minho waited for jisung to say something. after a few more seconds of jiusng just staring at him, he sighed internally. “don’t you have anything to say to me?” to be honest, he was a little disappointed with jisung’s reaction at the moment.

Jisung blinked at him. “so basically you're a demon.”

Minho wanted to bang his head against a brick wall. “no jisung. I'm a daimon. Different spelling, different saying, different type of being. Hell, even a different religion altogether.” He tried to enunciate his words so that this idiot blonde will get it straight.

After a few more moments of silence, minho sighed in frustration. “you don’t believe me, do you?” he was wasting his time with this. he should’ve known jisung was no different than other people, other _humans_.

Then jisung snapped out of his trance. “oh my god! You are serious! _Of course_ I believe you! How could I not after all that has happened to us?!” he started running his fingers through his hair in anxiousness. “minho, how dumb do you think I look? I watch Supernatural, I know what’s going to happen next. oh my god, ok I got this. we just need some salt and holy water.” He stops ranting and gasps, looking up at minho with wide eyes. “oh no! will you be ok around holy water? Should I get like 50% holy water? Do they have that?!”

Minho opened and closed his mouth, not sure how to handle jisung’s sudden babbling. “uhm jisung. I told you that im not a demon. I'm fine with holy water…I think. I never really needed to try that and-“

“oh my god. Ok, that’s good. That’s ok. Oh god minho, I feel like im in Twilight.”

“you mean ‘The Twilight Zone’? that show from the 1980s?”

Jisung stopped his mini freak out to look at minho in disgust. “what? No, I mean fucking Twilight. This is the 21st century minho, god you are such a grandpa. Oh my god, am I Bella? Am I going to have to marry a creature that is 100 years old?!”

Minho put up his hands, trying not to laugh his ass off. “woah there. First of all, im literally only two years older than you. And second, unless my memory went hazy from the fever, I don’t remember ever proposing to you.”

Jisung ignored him, hopping up and inching off of the bed. “quick minho! Shut the curtains! You cant let the sunlight touch you. I always knew you were too beautiful to be human. Your skin practically glows and-“

“jisung im not a fucking vampire. And you are just as beautiful because of your blessed blood. Same goes for changbin, chan, felix, seungmin, hyunjin, woojin, and jeongin. humans cant help but be subconsciously drawn to us. We are otherworldly to them."

Jisung decided to calm down and file that information for later to think about. “ok, I get that you are otherworldly because of your demon blood-“

“daimon, jisung. I'm not a creature from hell-“

“but what do you mean ‘blessed blood’? am I angelic?”

Minho was starting to get a headache from the constant mood shifts with jisung. He sighed again.

“you are cherished. _God’s cherished ones_. It was said in the Bible that god created the humans and loved them the most out of all of his creatures, right? Well, after he created the humans, he created the ‘cherished.’ You are not quite human, but not angelic. You are simply ‘blessed’ by god. There are very few of you, and you all have a special ability of some kind. God loved you above all, even more than his angels and humans. For some reason, your ancestors did something that pleased God, and so they were favored and granted His blessing. But with every good thing, something bad comes out of it. the humans were jealous. They were disgusted with the way God granted your kind special gifts, showering you with a symbol of His love. They started to kill the cherished. They feared what the cherished could do. They didn’t want to associate with the cherished. This displeased God. It hurt Him that His precious humans, who were made in his likeness, were turning on his most favored creations, the _cherished_. Are you following along?”

Jisung nodded, indicating for him to continue.

“so God did the only thing he could think of to do at the time. Like two sides to a coin, the daimons were the counterpart to the cherished. Your kind are the favored humans who were granted His blessings. My kind, the daimons, are favored spirits. God created us to protect his cherished ones. Instead of a special gift like you have, I was born with strength, speed, I can heal at an incredible rate. My sole purpose in life is to protect the cherished from harm.”

He ended his explanation and waited for jisung to make the next move.

Jisung sat there, taking it all in. he should be calling minho crazy, but he knows its all true. It was the only thing that made logical sense with what was going on around him. he’s seen minho’s speed, his strength. He watched deep cuts heal right in front of his eyes.

Then jisung grinned at minho. “well that’s unbelievably upsetting.”

Minho was taken aback at the statement. “excuse me?”

Jisung giggled. “here I thought since your eyes glow bright amber, that you were one of the vampires that only drank animal blood. That would have been totally cool. But im guessing they only glow amber because you’re a boring old daimon spirit thingy.” He waved his hand at minho, dismissing him and his existence.

“yes, my eyes glow amber when im using a bit of my ‘supernatural’ abilities. Its kind of an indicator of who I am. Your eyes burn a wine red color whenever you use your cherished ability as an indicator of who you are.”

“yeah, and that’s just so _boring_ ,” jisung huffed.

The corners of minho’s lips started to curl into a smirk. “so let me get this straight. I just told you that you are descended from very special humans who were blessed by God himself, and that I am descended from daimons who were created specifically by God to protect you, and you find it _boring_ because I’m not some teen heart-throb who drinks animal blood and pines over a 17 year old girl?”

Jisung shrugged. "that about sums it up."

“would it make you feel better if I changed my name to Edward?” minho was laughing now.

“For your information, I was always Team Jacob,” jisung argued back.

“oh my god you are impossible!” minho launched himself at jisung, laughing and trying to strangle his annoying and irritating cherished one he was assigned to protect with his life.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Magnets" by Disclosure ft. Lorde
> 
> this was mostly woochan and minsung.  
> I hope the part about chan's aura reading wasn't too confusing. it will be even more clear later. and minho finally revealed a bit about what they are!


	11. Crave You

Hyunjin blinked, his eyes opening slowly. He was in a beautiful room, soft blue curtains filtering some of the morning light. He stretched under the matching blue covers and yawned. He was so warm and content that he didn’t want to wake up yet, so he snuggled into the sheets even more and buried his head under the blankets. He inhaled deeply, loving the scent. Everything smelled like lavender detergent.

Just like how seungmin smells.

_Wait a minute._

Hyunjin opened his eyes again and peeked out a little. He heard a sigh and the sound of a book snapping shut in the quiet room.

Then someone spoke up. “its funny. I clearly remember showing you where the spare bedroom was before going to sleep last night. So please, pray tell, why I found you snuggled next to me when I woke up?”

Hyunjin slowly pulled back the covers he was hiding under and looked to the side. He could see seungmin leaning up against the headboard with his closed book in hand, his glasses on and staring down at hyunjin, patiently waiting for an answer from the older boy.

Hyunjin just simply stared at seungmin’s hair sticking up in all directions. It was the most adorable thing he has ever seen, and he couldn’t help the giggle that escaped from him, muffled by the blankets. He threw back the covers and sat up next to seungmin, running a hand through his hair a few times. Seungmin watched with a neutral expression, still waiting. He didn’t seem mad, so hyunjin counted his blessings.

“I uh…was cold?” he offered. He gave seungmin an astonishing smile so bright, it rivaled even the morning sunlight seeping through the curtains. His eyes crinkled into happy slits, and another giggle left his lips. If it was anyone else but seungmin in that moment, they would have been weeping from the ungodly sight in front of them.

Seungmin smirked. “try again. I know my apartment is well heated, so that excuse isn’t going to work on me.”

Hyunjin pouted. “maybe I don’t want to tell you.”

Not even seungmin can withstand the power of hyunjin’s pout, but still he stood his ground. “I thought we were going to be honest with each from now on? Did something happen last night while I was sleeping? Was it another attack?”

Seungmin sounded worried, and hyunjin’s playfulness dissolved. Last night after they went to get hyunjin’s things from his apartment, making sure to take the second bus instead of the first one, seungmin showed him where his bedroom was going to be until they cleared this whole mess up. Hyunjin thought he was just going to check things out around the apartment, change, and then go to bed. He didn’t want to disrupt seungmin’s life any more than he already has.

But seungmin had other plans. Once hyunjin was settled into seungmin’s apartment, he sat the older boy down on his couch and made sure he answered all of his questions. They stayed up practically half the night just _talking_. Hyunjin explained what he was and how seungmin was cherished. He told him basically everything, and seungmin sat there listening to it all.

At first seungmin was a bit skeptic, but he quickly threw that thinking out the door. He would be an idiot if he denied all that was happening around him. plus add in the fact that he can see flashes of the future when people die, and I guess it wasn’t hard for him to be a believer. He may be a doctor and he may use science in his daily life, but that doesn’t mean everything has to be explained by science.

Hyunjin gazed into seungmin’s eyes, and his breath became unsteady the longer he looked. He reached over and started combing his fingers through seungmin’s messy hair. he expected the other boy to flinch away or get annoyed for being in his personal space, but seungmin did neither. There was curiosity written on his face, and so he patiently waited for hyunjin to quit fussing, staying quiet until hyunjin had no choice but to say something.

If there was anything that annoyed hyunjin the most, it was the lack of _action_. His life was always a constant whirlwind of people, coming and going to different places, emotions swirling around him in a frenzy. He always was the center of attention, everybody squealing and screaming around him, talking and pawing at him. in every moment, he was living life to the fullest. Excitement followed him wherever he stepped.

But here, with seungmin, it was different. Everything was still; it was _quiet_. To him, seungmin was calm and soothing. Like a balm spread on a burn, a breath of fresh air right after the rain, or a sip of ice water on a scorching summer’s day.

He didn’t realize how noisy and hectic his life had become until he was forced to take a step back and observe everything around him. he never paid attention to people like seungmin because he never had a _reason_ to. People instead paid attention to him. he never had to work for anything, never had to try and get to know someone. Others were more than willing to tell him every single little detail of their lives without him even having to ask.

But he guesses that’s where everything went wrong. Because when we stop trying to connect with other people, we lose the connection to ourselves. Meeting seungmin was like a slap in the face to him. it was the wake up call he needed to realize that he didn’t enjoy life as much as he thought he did.

Life isn’t about the loud moments and wild adventures we have (even though those are good too). It was about the small mundane things in the aftermath, like waking up in soft and warm blue sheets, reading a favorite book first thing in the morning quiet, or drinking a favorite cup of green tea. Amidst all of the excitement and action, hyunjin finally noticed he was missing something even better.

When was the last time he got to sleep in and relax in the morning? When was the last time he actually talked to someone and completely got lost in the conversation? When was the last time he didn’t have to keep dodging empty compliments and always wondering if the other person actually wanted to talk to him because they liked _him_ or because they liked his looks? When was the last time he took the time to worry about his _own_ feelings?

Surprisingly, he had the answer to all of those questions sitting right here in front of him, staring at him through too big glasses frames.

Seungmin sat there, his gaze unwavering as he tilted his head slightly to the side, his brows furrowing in worry as hyunjin was lost in his thoughts. Hyunjin snapped out of his daze and slowly lifted his finger to smooth out seungmin’s worry lines on his forehead.

Finally, he spoke up.

“No, there wasn’t anything drastic like another attack last night. If I am honest with you, I snuck in when I knew you were sleeping because being closer to you makes me feel better.” Hyunjin quickly looked down at the admission, slightly flustered and not used to being unsure of himself. he never had to worry about how other people felt about him. but sometimes he didn’t know what to expect with seungmin and it was an unfamiliar feeling that settled at the bottom of his stomach.

Seungmin didn’t appear mad, instead asking out of curiosity, “why? What can I do to make you feel better just by being near me?”

Hyunjin glanced up at seungmin, met his eyes, and then glanced back down with a slight blush on his cheeks. He coughed, trying to clear out his nerves.

“it doesn’t matter. Nothing you need to be worried about. Please forget I said anything.”

Hyunjin made to get out of the bed, mumbling apologies about personal space and being clingy. The sudden change in demeanor surprised seungmin. he quickly grabbed hyunjin’s hand before he could leave the bed. Hyunjin froze at the contact.

“no, tell me. Ill listen to what you have to say. I’m also a doctor, so if it makes you feel more comfortable I could treat it like its patient-confidentiality. After all you’ve done for me and my friends, if there’s anything I can help you with just name it.”

Hyunjin could hear the sincerity in his words. He slumped back into his original position and leaned against the headboard with seungmin. seungmin let his hand drop from hyunjin’s wrist and immediately hyunjin could feel its absence. He watched seungmin’s hand rest on top of the sheets in between them, and he craved the feel of him. He swallowed, voicing his thoughts.

“your touch,” he sighed out in a whisper. Then he took seungmin’s hand and intertwined their fingers.

Seungmin gave him a confused look, glancing down at their joined hands. “my touch? What about it?”

This was something hyunjin was desperately trying to avoid during their long talk last night. But he was weak minded, and desperate, and in a lack of clarity he wandered into seungmin’s bed instantly feeling better once he slipped under the covers next to the sleeping brunette.

Seungmin squeezed his hand, urging him to elaborate.

“uh well, you’re blessed right?” seungmin nodded so he continued, “because I was born to protect you and im part spirit, my daimon blood kind of craves your cherished blood. Whenever im around you, I instantly feel better. Its kind of like an addiction that cant be cured.”

“so is that why you are so clingy with everyone?”

Hyunjin shook his head, still looking down at their hands. “no, that’s just my personality. I like being close to people. Its just who I am. But im not like that with everyone. just mostly felix and the others.”

“oh…are you and felix..close?” seungmin asked quietly.

Hyunjin nodded, letting out a sweet giggle that did something to seungmin’s heart. “yeah! We’ve always been together. Felix is just so cute and lovable, he really does make the team a brighter place.”

Seungmin frowned, but hyunjin didn’t notice. His mind was racing with endless thoughts, and for some reason he felt kind of bothered with the way hyunjin talked about his friend. Felix was nice, he knows everyone loves him. hell, he’s even seen the way changbin is starting to warm up to him. who can resist the bubbly boy?

No one can, that’s the thing. Seungmin felt a little self conscious, knowing his personality is completely different from felix’s. he isn’t that outgoing and tends to do things by himself. he’s always been on his own, jumping from household to household. He had to rely on himself to get where he is today. The only reason he is somewhat social is all because of jisung back in school. Jisung is the sole reason he has his other friends like chan and changbin, and he’s always been grateful.

Seungmin is _dull_ in comparison to people like felix, and he knows it.

He watched how animated hyunjin got when he started talking about his friend. His eyes lit up, and his voice became excited, softly recalling something funny that happened between them. And in that moment, seungmin came to the realization that he was jealous. No, he was _envious_.

Would anyone ever talk about _him_ with as much love as hyunjin talks about felix? He’s already in his twenties, and still feels lost and alone.

Seungmin was only half listening to hyunjin, a sudden sadness he hasn’t felt in years begin to creep in on him. he thought that sadness disappeared when jisung and the others came into his life, but ever since he met hyunjin it came back. he looked down at their intertwined hands and loosened his hold.

What was he doing? He barely knows hyunjin. Why did hyunjin even bother talking to him all those weeks ago in the first place? Seungmin wasn’t blind, he could see how ethereal hyunjin is. His beauty never fails to take his breath away, ever since that first day when he bumped into him. everyone in the hospital falls at his feet wherever he goes. seungmin is constantly hearing their whispers as he walks through the floors and patient rooms. Hell, some patients have even shown up at the hospital with stupid little bumps and bruises just so they could get another glimpse of hyunjin.

There are plenty of other more beautiful people who are more qualified than seungmin to stand next to hyunjin and be friends with him. seungmin realizes this, and so he doesn’t dare to feel anything for hyunjin beyond being acquaintances. He forced himself to stay neutral. He didn’t want to be like everyone else, loving hyunjin just for his beauty.

But despite all of his efforts, he couldn’t help but _notice_ hyunjin. Even the littlest things about hyunjin intrigued him. he notices that hyunjin’s eyes squint really tiny and his nose scrunches up when he’s really smiling about something. his true laughter turns to high pitched squeaks and giggles making him sound adorably obnoxious. He notices hyunjin always messes with his tie, loosening and re-tightening it throughout the day, and a little crease in his forehead appears whenever he has to put his suit jacket back on after a break. Seungmin quietly chuckled to himself when he realized that hyunjin must absolutely _hate_ wearing suits with the way he always fusses in them. He knows hyunjin gets bored easily, trying to distract himself by bugging others or clinging to them, especially felix. He knows hyunjin tries to find any excuse he can to leave his law department and get out of the hospital. Seungmin always wondered why hyunjin was an attorney if he clearly hated the job. Most of all, seungmin can see the look on hyunjin’s face when a crowd surrounds him and he’s just trying to go to lunch or to the bathroom, but he has to stop and politely acknowledge everyone. The way his eyes almost look sad, and how his shoulders droop slightly when other people compliment his face and tell him he should be a model. Seungmin doesn’t even think hyunjin notices he does that.

Did anyone ever compliment hyunjin on all of the hard work he puts into the hospital even though he hates every single minute of it? does anyone ever stop to just ask how his day has been or how he’s doing? Do they even know what kind of tea he likes to drink?

Hyunjin stopped talking, noticing the change in seungmin’s mood. He didn’t think seungmin was listening anymore, and he had this sad look on his face. He felt seungmin’s hold loosen, and hyunjin thought that maybe he finally overstepped his boundaries. So he let go of his hand and sat up straighter.

That seemed to bring seungmin out of his worries and he glanced at hyunjin, noticing he wasn’t talking anymore about felix. Seungmin flattened his lips and adjusted his glasses.

He couldn’t help the slight annoyance in his voice when he asked hyunjin a question that has been on his mind. It was his defense mechanism whenever he dealt with anything too emotional. It worked quite well for him when he was in the foster care.

“so, if you are so close to felix, why do you need _my_ touch? Just go to felix, im sure he wouldn’t mind if it was you clinging to _him_ instead.”

Hyunjin frowned, flinching a little at his tone. He looked down and started to play with the edge of the blanket at his waist.

Seungmin instantly felt bad for being a bit mean. His heart felt like it got stabbed at the kicked-puppy look hyunjin had on his face. He opened his mouth, intending to apologize, when hyunjin spoke up first.

“it doesn’t work like that. I only like to hug felix because he’s my friend. Besides using it for emotional comfort and support, felix’s touch does absolutely nothing for me. Same thing goes for felix. We are of the same kind, not cherished like you and the others.”

Seungmin’s heart started beating when hyunjin indirectly confirmed he wasn’t with felix in _that way_ , but still he didn’t dare put his guard down. “ok, so you just need a cherished to touch you. Then it obviously doesn’t have to be mine. You can just go hang on chan, or jisung, or hell even changbin,” he said a bit heartlessly while waving his hand in a dismissive behavior.

For some reason, his dismissiveness hurt more than hyunjin cared to admit. It was unlike seungmin to be this cold, even during all of the other times hyunjin annoyed the crap out of him.

Hyunjin looked up at seungmin again, trying to get him to understand.

“No, I can’t touch them. I mean, yes their touch feels great and all, but it’s not the same.” He was starting to feel nervous at the admittance. Its not easy telling someone you need them in every way possible, making yourself vulnerable to be hurt.

Seungmin stopped acting on the defense at the look in hyunjin’s eyes. “not the same?” he asked, slightly confused. Was he some sort of freak mutation, different from the other cherished?

Hyunjin nodded, slowly brushing the tips of his fingers across the top of seungmin’s hand. seungmin tried to suppress a shiver at the feel.

“yes,” he whispered. “their touch doesn’t compare to yours. Only _yours_ satisfies me. Theirs is dim in comparison.” He gently traced his fingers up seungmin’s hand, to his arm, past his shoulder, and then lightly cupped his cheek. “I only want _yours_. Ever since that first day, it’s only been your touch I’ve desperately yearned for, what ive been missing this whole time.”

His words took seungmin’s breath away. He leaned into hyunjin’s palm, his face warming at the contact.

“why?” he breathed out.

Hyunjin leaned in closer to seungmin’s face, his eyes glowing dim amber. He slid his hand through seungmin’s hair, and then rested it on his neck.

“I don’t know,” he muttered softly as he glanced down at seungmin’s lips.

Then he moved away, dropping his hand back to the bed. Seungmin felt frustrated at the absence of his touch.

“at first I was confused and annoyed. I mean sure, I was assigned to protect you so maybe I just felt obligated to be close to you. But then I realized that wasn’t the case. the more I got to know you, I decided I simply didn’t care what the reason was.” He shrugged, unapologetic.

Seungmin didn’t know what to say and he was still a bit flustered from being in such close proximity to hyunjin. Believe it or not, he has never been immune to this gorgeous boy. he just has a strong sense of willpower, making him hold out longer than the others.

Clearly that was slowly not working anymore.

He swallowed, his mouth dry. “so, what happens when you don’t touch me?” he almost blushed at the way that sounded, but stomped down on the emotion he feels inside of him. for some reason, the thought of hyunjin not liking anyone else’s touch but his made him extremely happy. It secretly made him feel like he was special in some kind of way.

Hyunjin sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, “uh, id rather not say. I don’t want you to feel sorry for me or obligated to help me out.”

Seungmin was growing impatient by how hyunjin keeps side stepping him, coming closer and then backing off. Why can’t he just commit to one emotion dammit!

Seungmin huffed, crossing his arms on his chest and staring hyunjin down. “you do realize it greatly insults me whenever you deny my help, right? I didn’t become a doctor for nothing. Its my _job_ to help people. I _want_ to help you, no matter what it is. Now quit playing coy and just tell me already.”

Hyunjin chuckled at the frank way seungmin always talks. It was quite refreshing having someone be blunt with him for once. He hated it when people always sugar coated their words for him.

“I go into a touch-craze when im away from you for long periods of time. First its just an uncomfortable feeling, nothing too drastic. Then it becomes achy and painful, like im going through withdrawal from a drug. Then the fevers start. I become delirious and sick, my blood feels like its boiling. Once I cool myself off and sleep through it, I return to normal. Everything is fine for a few days, and then it starts all over again. Its an endless cycle.”

Seungmin frowned. “well that doesn’t sound pleasant. Why does it happen?”

That was the million dollar question hyunjin was trying to avoid. He glanced away briefly, but then looked back at seungmin. “uh…we aren’t really sure. We just know that the older we get, the more often it occurs. Its probably just because we are part spirit, created for you. And so, we crave a cherished’s touch above all others.”

Seungmin listened to him explain it, still a bit confused. But he decided to think more in depth about it later. Maybe jisung heard something from the others. He made a mental note to ask his best friend about it next time he talks to him.

“ok, why didn’t you just touch me more? or cling to me like you do with felix? Is that why you were always spending time with me?” it didn’t surprise seungmin that hyunjin only spent time with him because he had to. Plus he was assigned to protect him 24/7. Why would someone who always had company want to waste his time with nerdy old seungmin?

Hyunjin could detect a slight stiffness in seungmin’s voice every time he mentioned felix’s name. it was strange. And the way seungmin just assumed he only spent time with him because he _had_ to started to piss hyunjin off. Can’t he see how amazing a person he is? Where did all this self insecurity come from?

Still, he gave seungmin a look, “seriously? First of all, having a random stranger wanting to grab you and touch you skin on skin as close as possible doesn’t sound like the best of ways to make first impressions. second, I didn’t want to cling to you just because you make me feel better. I liked spending time with you because you are funny and adorable. I like having a real conversation with you, even if its about something stupid.”

He smiled down at seungmin, and again seungmin was speechless.

_Did he just call me adorable? Is he blind?_

“yes, I meant all of it. especially the adorable part,” hyunjin confirmed his thoughts, grinning and bumping his shoulder.

Seungmin spluttered, not even denying it, “how did you-“

“I like watching you think.” He tapped seungmin’s temple. “there’s always something going on up there. I can just tell by now what you were worried about. You get this cute little frown around the edges of your mouth when you are overthinking something. and i've come to notice that you don’t feel comfortable with compliments. Lucky for you, I love giving compliments from the heart, so ill have you cured of that in no time!”

“im not cute…” he muttered, looking away.

Hyunjin leaned his head on his shoulder, laughing. “im the one that gets to decide that.”

It was silent for a few more moments, but hyunjin liked it. he didn’t bother moving his head from seungmin’s shoulder, just staring out the window with a peaceful expression.

However, Seungmin’s mind was racing a mile a minute. He was debating back and forth how best to express himself without feeling flustered. But in the end, everything involving hyunjin made him feel flustered, so he decided to channel some of jisung’s energy and just go for it.

“I don’t mind,” he started out in a small voice. hyunjin shifted his head, looking up at seungmin and hummed to let him know he was listening. Seungmin tried to continue casually.

“your touch-craze. If being near me and touching me helps relieve the pain, then I don’t mind.”

Hyunjin slowly sat up, turning to look at seungmin properly. He instantly felt bad for making the younger male have to decide like this. if two people aren’t close, that kind of thing can be really awkward. Hyunjin has never had a problem with it before because felix, minho, and woojin all love to shower hyunjin in love and cuddles without him having to ask for it. but seungmin was different. He clearly didn’t grow up with the kind of affection hyunjin was used to. It’s a really big deal for seungmin to say something like this and do this for him even though he’s charting in unfamiliar territory. Hyunjin’s heart swelled at the obvious effort seungmin was putting in to help him out with this weird condition.

“you don’t have to. I'm stronger than I look, you know and-" hyunjin started to tell him, but he was instantly cut off.

“no!” seungmin looked hyunjin full on, leaning closer to his face. He grabbed hyunjin’s hands that were in his lap, and wrapped his fingers around him. “I mean, yes im not used to initiating affection, but its not like I hate it. jisung cured me of that long ago,” he chuckled at the memories of jisung constantly whining to give him more love. Seungmin guesses all of his nagging and demands for kisses on the cheek were worth their weight in gold. Another thing he is going to have to thank jisung for.

Seungmin looked down, watching as he laced his fingers with hyunjin’s once more. hyunjin visibly relaxed at the contact. Then he looked back up at hyunjin, his eyes showing a slight red sheen to them.

“if its with you, I don’t mind at all,” he whispered.

***

Changbin stared at woojin and chan with a dumbfounded expression.

“you ok mate?” chan asked him, with slight worry in his voice. He was currently standing behind woojin, his hands resting on his shoulders as woojin sat in his kitchen chair across from changbin. felix giggled in the background, sitting on the chair in the corner with his legs crossed and leaning on one hand, admiring changbin as he listened to the older hyungs explain everything to him.

Changbin silently reached for his cup of coffee that chan made earlier, and he chugged the whole thing in one go, scalding his throat in the process.

He slammed the cup back down and glared at nobody in general. 

“so, you mean to tell me that this _man-child_ over there,” he pointed over his shoulder at felix behind him, “is supposed to _protect_ me from some random ass killers? Am I supposed to just put my life into his hands without question? No way. Nope. Not gonna happen.” Changbin crossed his arms in front of his chest for good measure, like a child refusing to go to sleep.

Felix pouted, “aw binnie. Don’t be mean, and quit posing like that. you look so adorable my heart cant take it!”

Changbin glared over at felix. “I am not adorable! Everyone around the neighborhood who knows me fears me. As soon as they realize im angry, people run! People on the streets used to challenge me whenever they had the chance! Nobody has ever won in a fight against me and-"

“I just want to squeeze his cheeks!” felix squealed, making grabby hands at changbin. “he’s so cute when he’s trying to be all threatening~”

“wait, what? Like I said, im not cute-"

Felix hopped in his seat, ignoring changbin’s reign of terror monologue. “oh my god, binnie! So guess what? While you were sleeping this morning, I was shopping online and I found the cutest thing you would absolutely love!” he brought out his phone searching for the item to show changbin.

“I assure you, anything you show me I would absolutely hate with a passion, there’s nothing out there you recommend that I would consider buying-"

Felix got up and leaned into changbin, shoving his phone in his face, ignoring his denials.

Changbin stopped talking, looking at the picture on the screen. Felix could see the interest in his eyes, and beamed brightly at him, grinning with a huge smile.

“see! I knew you would like it! I saw it and _knew_ we just had to get it! wouldn’t Gyu look so cute in this?! and its winter so I thought it would be perfect!” there on felix’s phone screen was a picture of a cute little red and black checkered scarf you can buy to dress up your stuffed animals with. Its very popular among children who have teddy bears, but it would have no problems fitting around Gyu.

Chan quirked an eyebrow up, amused at the situation in front of him. its rare for someone outside of their close friend group to know about gyu. Even more rare that changbin wasn’t getting angry for gyu being brought up. Changbin’s aura changed slightly to a softer red with glints of orange and yellow.

Happiness. Changbin was feeling extremely happy in this moment.

He looked to felix, watching the constant swirls of yellow, pink, and orange mix with changbin’s red. He was exuding tons of happiness, friendship, love, and thoughtfulness all around him. chan admired that about felix. He was always true to himself, no matter what he did. in a way, he was an open book to chan.

chan also noticed that changbin’s aura was still shining as brightly as ever, but felix’s and woojin’s weren't as bright as his. Felix’s was still more pronounced than woojin’s though. He didn’t know what that meant.

“who’s gyu?” woojin asked chan, drawing him from his thoughts. Chan looked down at woojin, massaging his shoulders a little.

“that, my dear friend, would be changbin’s cute little stuffed munchlax that he absolutely adores more than anything in this world. Its rare to even be able to see Gyu, he guards him with his heart,” chan chuckled.

“oh no,” woojin laughed. “felix loves stuffed toys. Changbin better keep an eye on Gyu if felix knows about him.”

The two in question weren’t paying attention to the older hyungs talking about them. Felix moved to stand behind changbin, bending slightly and lacing his arms around his neck so that both of them could look at his phone. Felix rested his chin on changbin’s shoulder and continuing babbling about how he found other colors, but thought the red and black checkered would be the most cute on Gyu’s blue colored body.

Chan watched as changbin didn’t seem to mind felix’s closeness. He was nodding along to what felix was saying, looking at all the other options he was showing him on his phone. Chan smiled and his heart melted at the sight in front of him. he doesn’t know if felix was a brilliant mastermind or just intuitive and thoughtful, but if there was one way to changbin’s heart, it would be Gyu and his love for strawberry bubble tea.

Changbin realized the scene they were making, and immediately stiffened. He cleared his throat and gently pushed felix’s phone away from his face.

“I uh…im not really interested in this kind of thing. There’s no reason to buy this, so you can just go away with that,” he tried his hardest to be assertive, he really did.

Felix giggled in his ear behind him, nuzzling the back of his shoulder with his face. He stood up straight and started tapping on his phone. “I knew you would say that binnie, so I went ahead and bought it anyways. Don’t worry about a thing! Your secret is safe with me! Its even coming through the mail in my name, so no one would suspect anything. The only people who have to know is me, you, and of course the hyungs over there,” he glared at chan and woojin with his adorable face, a silent warning not to say anything to the others.

Chan and woojin chuckled at the obvious threat the bubbly boy was giving them.

“we wont say a thing, promise,” woojin declared, his hand over his heart. Chan nodded in agreement. Satisfied, felix smiled and continued tapping away on his phone.

Changbin’s face flushed slightly, but he didn’t deny anything this time.

Once felix was done, he clapped his hands. “okay! So binnie, when can I move in?”

Changbin looked at felix in confusion. “move in? move in where?”

“with you silly!” felix said overjoyed, walking closer to changbin and fixing some of his hair that was messed up a little from sleeping for so long.

“why the hell would you move in with me?” changbin looked to chan and woojin for answers, pleading for help with his eyes. Chan watched as changbin didn’t smack felix’s hand away from fixing his hair.

Then Chan spoke up to explain more clearly. “ah, you kind of missed a lot yesterday. What do you remember about the attack on you and felix?”

Woojin watched changbin closely. He and felix lied to everyone about what happened to changbin the other day. According to them, someone tried to run them off the road and felix saved them at the last second by jumping off of changbin’s motorcycle. Changbin hit his head and was knocked out, and the attackers drove away.

They didn’t dare mention about the shooting.

Changbin thought about it for a moment, his memory kind of hazy. “I remember seeing the car coming towards us, and I remember hitting the ground with felix. And then the car turned around and…then nothing.” Changbin scrunched up his eyebrows, trying to think harder. He could feel like something else happened, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He remembers saying something to felix. He touched his chest absentmindedly, rubbing over his heart. It felt like his blood was boiling, warming up his whole body.

Felix was still standing behind changbin. he abruptly stopped what he was doing and slowly looked down at the back of changbin’s head. His eyes glinted bright amber, and he remained unnaturally silent.

Woojin was oddly quiet for a moment, but then spoke up. “you hit your head hard and might have gotten a concussion. The point is, felix saved you because that’s his duty. Until we figure out who is targeting you, felix needs to stay by your side at all times. It would be easier if he just moved in with you for a few days. It wont be permanent, so don’t worry.”

Chan looked from woojin, to felix, to changbin. he knows something more happened, but he’s not sure what it was. Nothing got past chan. But still he kept his thoughts to himself.

Changbin snapped out of his memories and glared at woojin. “I don’t care if you guys are some kind of daimons or whatever, he’s not staying with me! I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself with my own psychic abilities!” he looked to chan for some backup, his eyes glinting red.

Chan shook his head, apology written all over his face. “sorry changbinnie, I cant agree with you on this one. Woojin is right, felix can protect you until we get this whole thing over with. I don’t want to risk your life again. I'm not saying you aren’t able to take care of yourself, but it cant hurt to have someone else there just in case.”

Changbin curled his lip in annoyance, but didn’t argue further. Chan was right, and he hated it.

Felix clapped his hands in joy, “im so excited! This is going to be so much fun! Binnie we can have a slumber party tonight!”

“hell no!” changbin argued back. “don’t touch a single thing in my place! Everything is exactly where it should be and I don’t need you messing it up-“

“do you have pillows binnie? We can make a fort!” felix totally ignored changbin’s complaints.

Changbin banged his head on the table with a loud thud, ignoring chan and woojin’s laughter. This was going to be a long few days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Crave" by Tove Lo


	12. True Disaster

“so you know all about me, huh?” changbin glared over at felix.

After felix got himself _annoyingly_ settled into _his_ apartment, he decided to help himself to changbin’s fridge. Currently, the annoying brat was sitting on his kitchen countertop, swinging his legs playfully and eating a cream pastry chan so graciously gave to _changbin_.

“yep!” felix grinned. He finished the pastry, licking the powdered sugar from his fingers. Changbin couldn’t help himself from watching, frustratingly turned on by the simple act. He gritted his teeth.

“and so…all this time you knew about my special abilities? What I was capable of?” he hissed the question out, hating how he was fooled this whole time thinking felix was just some naïve happy-go-lucky boy who needed a job and liked to annoy the hell out of him.

Well, felix is still naïve, but that’s beside the point.

“mmm-hmmm,” felix hummed, finished with cleaning his fingers and staring back at changbin from his countertop.

Changbin noticed he still had a bit of powdered sugar at the corner of his mouth. Felix licked it away. changbin decided he didn’t care, he really didn’t.

“and you are supposedly super strong and can protect me?” changbin asked, still with disbelief in his voice.

Felix huffed, flicking his bangs out of his eyes. “yes binnie, we already went through this. get to the point.”

“so in conclusion, I don’t have to be careful around you from now on, which means I can finally do _this_ -" and then changbin flicked his hand, making a roll of paper towels on the kitchen table fling out and aim itself at felix’s face.

Felix’s eyes widened and then he blinked, his reflexes kicking in. he jumped off the counter with incredible speed dodging the roll of paper towels. In an instant he was in front of changbin at the other side of the small kitchen. His eyes flashed a bright amber, gazing head on at changbin’s red ones.

“that wasn’t very nice binnie,” felix lectured him, getting in changbin’s face. Changbin leaned a little away at the close contact causing felix to lean in closer to his face. It surprised him that felix wasn’t afraid or shocked by what he can do. Most people are at least a little bit wary before getting used to the idea.

Changbin pursed his lips, but refused to move any further. Ok so felix may be super strong and fast or whatever. This just pissed changbin off even more. he always suspected there was more to felix than he let on, but he didn’t see this one coming.

“get used to it. im not a nice person,” changbin grumbled at the pink haired boy, raising his chin haughtily.

Felix chuckled, reaching for changbin’s arm. “oh binnie. I used to believe that, but not anymore. You are one of the nicest people I know.”

Changbin expertly avoided felix’s touch, moving his arm away slightly which frustrated felix to no end. Still, he leaned in closer, his lips so close to changbin’s eyesight. He fixed some of changbin’s bangs, unable to stop himself from touching him in some way. Changbin felt like he was going to hyperventilate having felix’s lips within kissing distance. If felix leaned just a little closer…

Felix suddenly stepped away, turning to walk back to the countertop. He bent down to pick up the roll of paper towels that changbin flung at him with his telekinesis, and placed it near the sink. Changbin blinked, not expecting the sudden loss of warmth from the younger boy.

God, felix was so frustrating! One minute he’s annoying, then he’s playful, then he’s sexy as hell, and the constant switching was starting to make changbin aggravated. He squinted at felix’s back in hatred. He hated how felix was able to fluster him, he hated how much he liked the shape of his lips, he hated felix’s pretty laugh and freckles, he hated his stupid light peach hair and his bangs that he swoops to the side, he hated how he wanted to run his fingers through that hair. he hates how felix seems to be in control of everything making changbin act like a spluttering teenage girl in front of her crush. But most of all, he hates the constant need to have the taller boy press against him even though changbin cringes when other people touch him.

He curled his upper lip in disgust, watching felix’s ass as he bent down in front of him picking up the paper towels.

Clarification: disgusted with himself, not the obvious gorgeous view in front of him. for once felix wasn’t even trying to flirt, but still changbin was undeniably attracted to him.

suddenly the room became too hot, and his pulse was beating wildly. He rubbed his chest and his eyes started to glow bright red on their own this time. He wanted felix so _badly_. Scenes of felix crying above him suddenly flashed before his eyes, but then they were gone.

He continued to watch felix, clenching his fists tightly to his sides. It's to stop himself from doing something he may regret. But something in him was urging him to go to the daemon, grab him and never let go. He could feel his soul finally push past changbin’s constant efforts to stomp down on any feelings he may have, and scream for him to take what was theirs. He could somehow feel felix in a way he doesn’t know how to describe it. it felt like his blood was boiling throughout his entire body, unconsciously calling to the boy.

Felix jerked and turned abruptly towards changbin, noticing changbin just standing there looking at him like he wanted to kill him. he raised an eyebrow in curiosity, leaning back against the counter, his eyes glinting amber as he studied him.

No, it wasn’t a look of murder in changbin’s red eyes. It was something else. Something felix hasn’t yet seen before in the dark haired male. He couldn’t quite put his finger on the emotion flashing on changbin’s face.

But he didn’t have to read changbin’s facial expression, because he could _feel_ it coursing through his own body. He was completely attuned to his cherished’s emotions now, meaning changbin willingly let something change between them.

Possessiveness. Changbin was feeling possessive towards felix in this moment.

Felix didn’t move when changbin took a step forward, then another, his eyes still glinting red. His cherished was calling to him, and felix waited patiently for him to come closer.

Changbin walked to felix, stopping mere inches from him and looking up into his eyes. He placed a hand on the countertop on either side of felix, caging him in. he leaned into felix, his face centimeters from the annoying boy. felix couldn’t stop his heart from racing, and held his breath waiting for changbin to say something.

Changbin brought up his right hand, tracing the side of felix’s neck then trailing down to his shirt collar. He hooked his finger into the collar, dragging felix even closer to the point felix would have to cross his eyes down at changbin to continue looking at him. his touch felt like heaven to felix.

“what really happened to us yesterday? Why can’t I remember much about it?” he whispered, barely touching felix’s lips. Felix bit his bottom lip, praying for changbin to connect their lips _finally_.

He swallowed with much effort, releasing his shaky breath against changbin.

“its just as woojin said. I saved you,” he whispered back, all playfulness gone. Felix was starting to look uneasy, and changbin rejoiced that he finally had the upper hand for once.

Changbin moved his left hand from the counter to felix’s waist, digging his fingers into his side and pushing their hips closer so that their bodies were perfectly aligned with each other. changbin noticed how well they fit together. Just another thing for him to ‘hate’ about felix.

“how?” changbin murmured against felix’s lips. Felix was about to melt in a puddle right there in the middle of the kitchen. Changbin was playing a very dangerous game. He grabbed onto changbin’s arms, hanging on for dear life, trying his hardest not to press his lips more firmly like he’s wanted to do for the longest time.

“I healed you,” felix admitted, moving his lips against changbin’s as he spoke but still not kissing him. felix closed his eyes, trying not to make a sound. this was pure agony for both of them.

Changbin used his body to press felix harder into the counter, his fingers digging even more into felix. He was never a gentle person with the things he wants most. But felix was no longer the delicate boy he used to think he was, and he didn’t seem to be complaining with how changbin was handling him if his heavy breathing and hard grip on his biceps was any indication to go by.

“why?” changbin breathed against felix.

Felix opened his eyes again, they were glowing a bright gold. “I was afraid of losing you,” was all he said.

Changbin smiled against his lips despite himself. “why would you be afraid of losing me?” he could feel felix’s chest rise and fall at a rapid pace from the constant contact. Felix was breaking down around him, and changbin loved every second of it.

“because I like spending time with you,” he murmured.

Changbin brushed his lips across felix’s as he tilted his head slightly. “why would you want to spend time with someone like me? It just doesn’t make sense,” changbin was honestly curious. Nobody has ever been this interested in him.

Felix shrugged slightly, “do I need a reason? I just do. Because its _you_ ,” he whispered in the quiet kitchen.

Those words did something to changbin’s heart. He decided he wanted to hear felix say that to him for the rest of his life.

Maybe it was the fact that changbin suppressed himself from touching people his whole life, or maybe it was because changbin didn’t like to feel emotions and always stomped down on any feelings he might have had from past relationships. Or maybe it was because felix was just that irresistible, but suddenly he found himself starved for his affection, _his touch_.

Which is why he didn’t stop himself from moving his right hand that was wrapped in felix’s shirt up to the back of his head and tugging on his hair. he chuckled against felix’s lips, finally losing his mind. Felix wasn’t sure if that was a good sign, feeling nervous for what he was going to do next.

“how do you feel about me?” changbin asked softly.

Felix was taken aback by the abrupt question, and hated how in control changbin was at the moment. He’ll be damned if he was the first one to admit their feelings to the other. “I guess you’re alright,” felix smiled playfully even though he was a quivering wreck against changbin. he loved the feel of the older boy’s fingers carding through his hair.

Changbin tsked not liking that answer. “im going to ask you again,” he slowly took felix’s bottom lip in-between his teeth and pulled making felix whine, “how do you feel about me?”

Felix was going crazy with want, making him pause in his answer. That wasn’t fast enough for changbin, who leaned back in licking his bottom lip and scraping his teeth against it again. Felix moved his hands to changbin’s chest, obviously liking where this was going but knowing he shouldn’t go further.

“you know the answer to that already,” felix chuckled when he had his lip back.

Changbin pressed his lips against felix’s once, twice. “I know. But I want to hear you say it.”

Felix ran his tongue across changbin’s top lip, “you’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“very much so.” Changbin leaned away, like he was going to leave.

Felix panicked, twisting his fingers in his black tshirt to keep him in place. “no! don’t stop,” he practically begged. Changbin’s lips curled into an evil smirk, waiting. “fine! I like you! Are you happy? Even though im not supposed to, you aggravating tiny person who likes to torture me on a daily basis.”

Changbin pouted leaning further away, “im not _that_ small!”

“ _changbin_ , shut _up_ and kiss me already!” felix practically growled out, his patience finally gone. He yanked on changbin’s shirt with his inhuman strength and smashed their lips together properly, _finally_.

As changbin breathed in, he pressed more into felix, cupping his face and causing felix to bend a little backwards at the force. Felix’s hands were all over him, leaving fire everywhere he touched. Their lips moved together perfectly, desperately. Changbin could feel a part of himself, his soul deep down inside him. He felt content, he felt safe. it was like felix was wrapping his entire self around changbin, keeping him away from all of the bad things in this world.

Without breaking contact, felix hopped backwards up on the counter, wrapping his beautiful legs around changbin’s waist. Changbin chased after his lips while running his hands up felix’s thighs and gripping tight. Out of breath, changbin pulled away making felix whine. He wasn’t done with him yet though. Changbin smiled, his eyes glowing a vibrant wine color. "open,” he commanded with a rumble to his voice. Felix’s breath hitched at how incredibly _hot_ that was, and he laced his hands around changbin’s neck, panting heavily. What his cherished wants, his cherished gets. He happily complied to the order. changbin tilted his head so he could kiss him at a better angle, and then slipped his tongue in making felix moan into his mouth.

After what felt like forever, changbin left felix’s lips and trailed his own down his neck, his breath fanning on his skin. Felix dug his nails into changbin’s shoulders, stopping him from going further.

Changbin glanced up, licking felix’s pulse at the side of his neck, waiting.

Felix’s eyes fluttered shut, and he unconsciously tilted his head to the side to give changbin better access. Changbin pressed his lips to his neck, when felix stopped him again. “don’t binnie,” he whimpered out. “if you kiss my neck, im not responsible for what happens next…” he tightened his thighs around changbin, and he could feel changbin’s grin against his skin.

“well, we cant have that happen now can we?” he teased, sucking on a particular sensitive spot. Felix threw his head back, glancing up at the ceiling with half lidded golden eyes.

He’s not supposed to get close to changbin. woojin’s warning was continuously ringing around in his head as he let changbin leave marks all over his neck, relishing in the feel of his teeth scraping against his sensitive flesh.

woojin really should have given jisung to felix when he wanted to switch assignments with minho all those weeks ago. Woojin should have known better.

Because Felix was notorious for disobeying his orders.

***

 A few days went by with nothing eventful happening. The nine of them spent practically every second together, getting to know each other and becoming even closer.

It wouldn’t be uncommon now to see chan and seungmin coo over how adorable jeongin was, and hyunjin and felix pawing all over changbin. minho was still flirting shamelessly with jisung, only to have the blonde snap at him. and then they started arguing all over again.

It honestly was an endless cycle, and the others were actually getting annoyed with the two. They were starting to take the fun out of their peaceful days.

Jisung screeched in the bakery. It was ear splitting so early in the morning. Chan still didn’t open his bakery, taking a well deserved vacation, so thankfully there were no customers to witness this.

“ew, what the hell?!” he yelled at minho, wiping his cheek harshly. Minho smirked, leaning back in his chair without a care in the world.

Chan sighed, “what did he do now, jisungie?”

“he fucking licked my cheek!”

“you had chocolate on it from your donut. It would have been tragic to waste it,” he laughed evilly.

Jisung glared at him. “you could have given me a napkin!”

While they were arguing, chan walked over to woojin and whispered in his ear. Woojin’s eyes widened, and he chuckled out loud.

“you think it will work?” he whispered back to him.

Chan nodded, a red glint to his eyes. “if jeongin and changbin are in on it, it will work. Trust me.”

“if it gets them to shut the hell up for a solid 15 minutes, im in.” normally woojin would never play along to something so childish like this, but minho and jisung really were getting on his nerves with their constant game of cat and mouse. Or more like cat and squirrel.

Jisung got up to go to the bathroom to clean his face of minho’s slobber, minho waving his fingers patronizingly at him calling out, “hurry back love~” jisung flipped him off.

Chan made his move while they were separated for once.  “changbinnie, can you come to my back room with me real quick? I was producing a really good track last night and wanted to know what you thought of it,” he asked nicely.

Changbin stopped trying to pry felix’s arms off of him and looked over at chan with a confused expression. He didn’t hear anything about chan producing lately with all that’s been going on, and he definitely didn’t have any of his music equipment here at the bakery.

Chan gave him a look, and changbin chose not to say anything. He stood up, forcing felix to let go of him. “sure hyung, show me what you got.”

He followed chan to the back room. Once they turned the corner, chan grabbed changbin’s arm and giggled.

“hyung, im scared.”

“how would you like to play a prank on minho and jisung to pass the time and get them to go the hell away for a little while?”

Changbin blinked at him, not expecting this. but then he grinned evilly, rubbing his hands together. “say the word and I shall obey. Honestly, jisung needs to man the fuck up and just jump minho already.”

Chan grinned back at him with a flicker of red in his eyes, “like you did with felix?”

It really shouldn’t surprise changbin that chan knew. “no comment,” he sniffed at the older boy. “ok, what do you want me to do?”

“ok, so here’s what I was thinking…” chan explained to changbin as he texted jeongin at the same time.

When they returned to the table, jeongin had an evil glint to his eyes, obviously getting chan's texts. He had no idea what was going on, but if somebody needed to be pushed, he was your man.

“oh, changbinnie since you’re up already, could you get a box out of the supply closet for me? I think I have some old pots and pans in there that I need to bake pastries with,” chan called over to changbin like nothing happened a few minutes ago.

On cue, changbin whined, “but hyung! I'm too short to reach the damn box! You put all of your stuff high up on shelves!” changbin stomped his foot, making felix melt from the adorableness. Everyone was watching his ‘tantrum,’ hyunjin and seungmin chuckling.

“then take someone with you!” chan called over, pretending to dig through some drawers looking for something.

Changbin sighed, “fine. minho could you help me get what chan wants?”

Minho raised his eyebrows. “me? Wouldn’t hyunjin be better? He’s taller than me.”

Damn, changbin didn’t think about that. luckily, hyunjin was being stubborn that day. “uh uh,” he pouted, clinging onto seungmin’s arm. “im not getting up to do anything.” When changbin left, hyunjin moved over to spend time with seungmin.

Changbin inwardly sighed with relief. Minho rolled his eyes at his too-affectionate teammate. “fine you lazy piece of crap. I'll do it.” he got up from his seat and motioned for changbin to lead the way.

They disappeared around the corner to the back of the bakery. woojin smacked his hand over chan’s mouth to cover up his giddy laugh.

He burst out laughing when he heard a “hey!” and then the door to the supply closet slamming shut. Seungmin, hyunjin, and felix looked confused as to what was happening.

“uh, did minho just scream?” felix asked, unworried.

“hey, uhm guys? Did you hear a loud bang? I was in the bathroom and all of a sudden I thought I heard a shout,” jisung asked them, coming from the other direction and ruffling his hair.

Jeongin stood up. It was his turn now.

He gave baby doe eyes to jisung, “yeah I heard it too hyung! Changbin and minho went to go get something for chan, and I was just going to check on them. Can you come with me please? I don’t want to go by myself, and hyunjin and seungmin over here are too busy staring into each other’s eyes to help me.”

“hey! I was not staring into hyunjin’s eyes-" but jeongin just kicked seungmin’s leg under the table to shut him up. It worked.

Jisung looked at jeongin confused, but couldn’t resist his pleading eyes. “uh, yeah, sure thing innie.”

They both headed to the back towards the supply closet. Chan was busy slapping his knee in silent laughter, woojin trying to hold him up.

“I don’t know whats happening, but if jeongin is involved, I already love it,” hyunjin declared, a playful glint to his eyes.

They all stayed silent as they listened. Suddenly they heard jisung scream “what the fuck!” and then a door slam shut with more banging on it.

Changbin and jeongin came running back in, panting and looking disheveled.

“did you just lock jisung and minho in the supply closet?” seungmin asked, snorting.

“that depends on your answer. Are you going to help him out as an obligatory best friend would do?” changbin panted out of breath.

Seungmin gave him a ‘are you fucking kidding me?’ look. “hell no. if you had told me sooner, I would have helped shove him in there with my own two hands and laugh manically as I slam the door shut on his face,” seungmin giggled at his own words.

Everyone just blinked at him, not saying anything.

“he’s perfect,” hyunjin sighed next to him. felix slapped his forehead at his friend’s stupidity.

“well then, yes I shoved minho in there, held the door as best I could while minho was confused as fuck, and then jeongin shoved jisung in. we locked the door from the outside and pushed a chair up against the handle. It wont hold them for long, but it will take at least a good couple minutes to get out.”

Seungmin nodded his approval while chan brought over a tray of mugs. “tea anybody?”

They all sat down at a table and chatted amongst themselves with their drinks, basking in the silence without minho and jisung's constant banter back and forth.

***

“did they just fucking lock us in a supply closet?” jisung banged on the door, glaring at it.

“it would seem so,” minho sighed, running his hand through his hair and leaning against an old wooden shelf. The place was a disaster and cramped. Old mop buckets, cleaning supplies, and dusty boxes littered the place. Minho kicked some things aside so that he had some leg room.

Jisung huffed and turned away from the door. “cant you like, kick it down? you seem to be a good expert at that, if my apartment door is any proof,” he spat at minho, irritated at their situation. He was so totally going to beat the shit out of changbin when he gets out of here.

The place was dim due to there being no windows and only a single light bulb flickering above them.

Minho shrugged, “nah. They will let us out soon enough. I don't want to have to fix chan’s door if I can help it.”

Jisung groaned, “ugh you are so annoying and useless.” He slumped across from minho against another shelf in the small closet.

Minho smirked over at him. “why? Too nervous to be in a small space with me? Afraid of what I might do to you?”

Jisung scoffed, avoiding eye contact. “far from it. I wish it was anybody else but you here with me.”

Minho frowned, feeling slightly hurt at the words despite knowing jisung probably didn’t mean it. “well you’re stuck with me, love. So, what do you want to do?”

Minho stretched his arms up, cracking his back. Jisung couldn’t help but glance at the thin sliver of skin at the waistband of his jeans that revealed itself when minho stretched. His mouth watered at the sight. It’s been days since their little heart-to-heart, and minho has avoided touching him like the plague, except for the few flirty teases he does to annoy him, like earlier. Jisung's feeling starved.

He’s been grumpier than usual, and he refuses to admit its because he hasn’t been getting much attention from minho. “nothing besides glare at the door and wish for it to disappear,” jisung answered sarcastically, still watching minho’s shirt ride up his waist. Jisung wondered what it would be like if he ran his tongue all over minho’s body. What it would taste like.

He licked his lips and quickly looked away when minho readjusted himself against the shelf. But not quick enough.

“like what you see, love?” minho taunted, showing a sexy smirk that did something to jisung’s insides.

_Yes._

“not at all,” he lied. He knew that minho knew he was lying. He gritted his teeth at his moment of weakness.

Minho stepped forward and closer to jisung, his cocky smile never leaving his lips. Jisung wanted to smack that annoying look off his face.

With his lips.

Jisung angrily watched as minho’s lips came closer to his.

_Here we go again._

He braced himself like he was going to war on the front lines.

But minho still frustratingly wont kiss him! always so close but yet so far! Jisung curled his lip with a growl. Minho chuckled, leaning down and brushing his lips against his neck again.

_Finally!_

Jisung tilted his head to give minho more room to work. Maybe this time they might actually get somewhere. By this time, minho very clearly knows where jisung stands, but still he loves to torture the both of them until jisung completely gives up the fight. Jisung will be damned if he lets minho win. pretty soon minho will get sick of his own game and jisung will relish with evil glee at the look of minho finally breaking down and giving into him.

Minho brushed his lips against jisung’s beautiful golden skin, trailing kisses down to his collarbone. Then he gave him a wet kiss there before trailing up the other side of jisung’s neck. Jisung tilted his head the other way to help him out while breathing out a long sigh of longing.

Just when minho was really starting to get carried away, jisung opened his lust filled eyes wider at the sight behind minho on the wall. He smacked minho’s arm to get his attention.

“mmm, not done with you yet sungie,” he whined into jisung’s neck.

“minho now is _not_ the time. Look behind you,” jisung’s voice quivered in fear. Minho’s lips reluctantly left jisung’s skin as he turned around to see what jisung was so frightened of.

Minho grabbed onto jisung’s arm. “is that-"

Jisung nodded vehemently. “that is a fucking huge ass bug minho! How many _legs_ does it have?!” he was slapping minho’s arm in fear.

“the fuck if I should know!” minho swore.

The bug just glued itself to the wall, but as they noticed before, the supply closet was very cramped and had limited space. So even though it was on the other wall, that wall was only three or four feet away at most.

Minho paled when it started scurrying down the wall and closer to them, a fast dark blob. It apparently could smell fear.

Jisung was the first to freak out and he screeched. “minho! Kill it, kill it, kill it!”

“fuck no jisung! You kill it! its huge as fuck!”

“dammit minho, you are completely worthless! I always knew you were just a pretty face! Aren't you supposed to protect me?!”

“oh now you are gonna pull out the ‘protect me’ card every chance you get aren’t ya? Sorry love but that’s not how this works.”

Jisung scooched away frantically, “oh my god minho! It's coming closer! Quick, shield me with your body!”

Minho hid behind jisung, also scooching away. “bitch! Do I look like a fucking human shield-"

But then he went quiet. They both did. because what they witnessed was far worse than before.

“minho…” jisung whined on a shaky breath.

“yeah, I see it too,” minho whispered, panic clearly written on his face and in his voice.

The bug was no longer crawling towards them. It was spreading its little insect wings, preparing for take off.

“IT FUCKING HAS WINGS!” jisung yelled, grabbing the first thing he could find.

***

Chan and the others were snickering at a table, hearing all kinds of shouting and banging around from the supply closet.

“seems like they are finally letting all that pent up sexual tension loose,” changbin snickered.

“its about fucking time. It was getting so annoying hearing jisung complain about minho all day long!” seungmin added in.

“at least he doesn’t call you in the middle of the night, taking away from your sleep time,” chan added in.

“chan you barely get any sleep anyways,” woojin commented.

They all joined in with joyous laughter at the table, ignoring the shrieks and cries for help.

Then all of a sudden the supply closet door banged open, its hinges practically coming off of the frame and the wood splintering. Jisung and minho emerged from the dim light, eyes glowing different colors, sweating, panting, and looking like they just came back from war. Their shirts were messed up, their hair was tossled, and jisung was holding a broomstick that was split in half.

“glad you can join us. Did you guys have a nice time in there?” hyunjin called over while felix was snickering into his hand. changbin outright laughed at the state they were in, all of them obviously thinking unholy thoughts.

Minho and jisung just stood there side by side looking murderous.

“Remember, they planned this together. You take the left side, ill take the right side,” jisung rasped out in between pants.

“got it,” minho nodded while gritting his teeth, equally out of breath.

And then they charged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "True Disaster" by Tove Lo


	13. Latch

“aw come on you guys! We didn’t mean it!” minho called after felix, hyunjin, and jeongin. they were currently at their agency for regular reporting and meetings.

Felix just huffed and hyunjin turned his face away pettily.

Minho and jisung may have gone overboard with the whole bug incident. Minho successfully managed to shove hyunjin, felix, and jeongin into the closet with the bug while jisung managed to get a few whacks in on seungmin and changbin with his broken broom stick. Woojin and chan were the only two that got out of there unscathed, only because jisung was semi-afraid of chan, and woojin was too strong and wasn’t letting anybody near him. the two eldest cackled in a corner as they watched the younger ones ‘play’ with each other.

“it _touched_ my arm minho!” felix hissed out, rubbing his arm in horror. He could still feel the remnants of its many legs almost make a perfect landing on his arm in the closet. In a state of panic, he shook his arm abruptly, flinging it near hyunjin.

“it smacked my face with its wings. My _face_ minho!” hyunjin whined next to felix. Hyunjin flipped his shit when the thing came at him.

In the end, it was jeongin that killed it. calmly squashing it with his boot when it smacked the floor after hyunjin was done jerking his body around like he was having a seizure.

It was safe to say that chan is going to have to do some repairs to the damage his poor supply closet sustained from three daimons wreaking havoc on it, forgetting they are super strong in their panic over a bug. 

“serves you guys right for locking me and jisung up in there with that thing!” minho shot back as they entered their department and headed to their report room.

“maybe if you and jisung weren't being so annoying we wouldn’t have to go through such drastic measures!” felix yelled back.

They all entered the room and took their usual seats. Woojin would be with them shortly, having to talk separately with their head, JYP. So far in the days that have passed, jeongin has managed to keep their bosses from suspecting too much with what’s been going on.

They broke all of the rules. Even woojin was guilty of this.

They were told not to get close to the cherished, and instead they are all living with their respective assignments in their homes, playing with them on a daily basis, even going as far as calling them their ‘friends.’ maybe even more than friends for some of them. They allowed the cherished to become aware of their world, their abilities, what they were, and that is the biggest rule they have all broken.

Jeongin tried his best to cover that slip up, and so far its worked. All JYP knows is that they had to get a tad bit closer to the cherished to protect them, and that was it.

Woojin walked into the room, shutting the door carefully so no one in the agency could hear them. They all held their breaths, waiting for what their leader would have to say.

Woojin ran a hand down his tired face.

“well?” felix asked, impatient to get back to changbin. he doesn’t like leaving him for long.

Woojin sighed, taking a seat at the head of the table. “I just had a long talk with JYP about the attacks. I was vague, so he doesn’t know how serious the attacks were,” at this he glanced briefly at felix, but then continued. “but it turns out that in the past few days, everything has been resolved.”

Minho perked up, “what? So soon? Are you sure?”

woojin nodded. “its just as I said. turns out some humans who were anti-cherished tried to break into minho’s apartment _both_ times to get information on the names of the other cherished. Someone must have witnessed seungmin try and stop the bicyclist getting hit with the car all of those weeks ago, and figured out he was a cherished. My only guess is that they saw seungmin’s eyes or heard him shouting during that incident. They probably tailed seungmin for a while, figuring out that jisung was also cherished since they were best friends. since seungmin’s apartment is more expensive, its very hard to break into. That leaves jisung’s apartment next. but the first attempt was futile since jisung beat the shit out of the guy and then minho showed up.”

“ok, what about the hospital? And changbin and felix almost getting run over?” hyunjin asked.

“they carelessly shot guns into the hospital as a sort of ‘warning’ for any cherished that may be in the area. I don’t even think they knew if seungmin or jisung were at work that day. And obviously they suspected either changbin or felix were cherished since they were friends with jisung and seungmin. JYP was assured from the head boss himself that the clean up department took care of the anti-cherished that was causing harm.”

“so everything is fine now? We can go back to protecting them?” jeongin asked. It was not their jobs to go after the attackers. They are ordered to only stay close to the cherished and protect them when needed.

Woojin laced his fingers together on the table. “for now, yes. JYP and the head boss don’t know about all of the protocols we broke in telling our cherished the truth. My goal is to continue guarding them quietly until we move on to our next assignments.”

They all nodded in acknowledgement, relieved that things seem to be going back to normal.

They started to get up, assuming the meeting was over.

“but,” woojin said to all of them before they could leave. “we have to limit the amount of interaction we have with them, just to be safe. JYP may not care as much, but the head boss isn’t as naïve as he may seem. There was a reason he made the rule of getting close to them forbidden. We broke that, so we must be careful.”

Once he was done, they all started heading out of the room. Minho lingered behind, waiting for woojin, felix, and jeongin to leave. Before hyunjin could go, he grabbed onto his arm. Hyunjin stopped and turned, confusion on his face.

Minho glanced out into the hall, and then shut the door before anybody could notice them.

“whats up hyung?” hyunjin asked. It wasn’t normal for minho to sneak around.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something, but never had the chance with everyone around the past few days,” minho said nervously, playing with his earring.

Hyunjin tilted his head, listening. “ok? And why do we have to talk behind woojin and the other’s backs?”

Minho shifted on his feet, choosing his words carefully. “you know how im next to be in charge, right?” hyunjin nodded, waiting for him to continue. “well, the thing is…the touch-craze. Its started for me. And its bad.”

Hyunjin sucked in a breath. “already? I thought you were a bit stronger than the rest of us, like woojin.”

Minho nodded, “yeah its started a while ago, soon after I met jisung. At first it wasn’t as bad, but now…I only feel comfortable talking to you about this. I don’t want woojin to know just yet, he has enough to worry about.”

Hyunjin patted his hands on minho’s shoulders, indicating for him to sit. Minho honestly looked panicked and it freaked hyunjin out. minho was never like this, always the emotionally stable one, taking life in stride as it came. There was nothing he couldn’t handle, he was always in control. He’s been a part of this world since he was born (unlike hyunjin, felix and jeongin) and nothing took him by surprise.

“tell me what’s going on, hyung,” hyunjin softly said to him. “start from the beginning.”

Minho tried to make himself relax. There was a reason he went to hyunjin about this. hyunjin is the one that suffers the most with the touch craze despite being younger than minho and woojin. If anyone knows what minho is going through right now, its hyunjin.

“it happened back when we were attacked the second time. After those assholes went through mine and jisung’s apartments, I went after them. I got cut up pretty bad before they escaped. The problem is…the fever started and I couldn’t heal. That’s why I couldn’t continue to go after them and how they were able to injure me so badly.” Hyunjin’s eyes widened at that. if the fevers start and he couldn’t heal, that means its very bad in its late stages.

“I just barely made it back to my apartment where jisung and jeongin were. I was bleeding and about to pass out from the fever. Jisung thankfully managed to take care of my cuts.” Minho smiled softly at the mention of jisung.

Hyunjin was surprised. “wait, jisung helped you out?” minho nodded.

“I was pretty bad. He stitched me back up and tried to get my fever to cool down. he started flipping his shit when he took my temperature and saw how high it was. I had to stop him from taking me to a doctor, and so I told him the truth.”

“jisung knew about us before woojin explained everything?!” hyunjin asked.

Minho chuckled nervously, “yeah, he’s known for a while actually. Not everything though! Just some things.”

Hyunjin took a few seconds to take all of that in. “obviously there is more to this story.”

“well…jisung kind of helped me bring my fever down.”

Hyunjin raised his eyebrows in amusement at this. “oh? And how did he do that?”

Minho glanced away, hating every moment of this conversation. “this is where the problem starts.” He twiddled the ring on his thumb before elaborating. “uhm, he threw me in a tub of cold water to cool my fever down.” minho stopped talking.

“ok, that’s not so bad,” hyunjin commented.

“and then he may or may not have almost completely undressed himself stepping into the tub, pressing against me to touch me as much as possible and bring the fever down. my cuts also healed quickly because of it.”

An evil smirk slowly creeped onto hyunjin’s lips. He leaned onto his hand on the table, “im listening.”

Minho smacked hyunjin’s thigh to wipe off the shit-eating grin he was giving him.

He was quiet for a few moments and stared off into the distance at the wall. “that was a huge mistake. That’s where it all started. I need him so much now. Only him,” he whispered quietly.

Hyunjin sat up straighter again, watching minho’s eyes glow a dim amber. It was starting to sound like his situation with seungmin.

It was silent in the room. Then minho broke it and spoke up again. “after we returned from woojin’s that night, my fever was still there but obviously not as bad. Jisung crawled into bed next to me. I remember…waking up with the need to be closer to him. without thinking, I took off my shirt, crawled to him, lifted up his shirt as much as it could go without waking him and just clung to him with everything I had, touching as much as I could.”

“oh? Things are getting spicy~” hyunjin teased.

Minho looked down at his hands, ignoring the comment. “What do I do? What is this…this _feeling_ for him? it’s the touch craze, isn’t it? its making me lose my mind!”

Hyunjin shook his head, “no hyung. I don’t think it’s the touch-craze.”

“how do I stop it?” he asked desperately, looking up into hyunjin’s eyes.

Hyunjin frowned at him sadly. “you don’t,” he whispered, speaking from experience.

“but…but he’s annoying, and irritating, and I _hate_ him,” minho argued.

Hyunjin tilted his head to the side. “is that all there is to it?”

Minho crossed his arms over his chest in defense. “of course! God I hate him so much, I just want to grab him by the shoulders and push him up against a wall, or maybe bend him over a table, or maybe push him onto a couch as I straddle him and kiss the hell out of him-"

Hyunjin chuckled, “uhm, that doesn’t really sound like you hate him…”

Minho glared at him. “what are you talking about? I totally despise the guy!”

Hyunjin scoffed at his stupidity. “sure hyung. Because when I hate somebody, I sit around daydreaming about shoving my tongue down his throat-"

“ohh good one. That too.”

“I was being sarcastic. You need to get laid,” hyunjin sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Minho pouted for a few minutes. Hyunjin stared at the table, thinking about his own problems. He’s been meaning to talk to someone about it, and right now is the perfect chance.

He spoke up, taking the risk. “I gave seungmin some of my blood,” he whispered in the quiet room, almost scared someone would hear them.

Minho snapped his head to hyunjin, horror in his eyes. “you did what? When?” he quietly asked.

“after the shooting, in the hospital,” he reached out for minho’s hand, the older letting him take it for comfort. Hyunjin looked down, playing with minho’s rings, a little scared and nervous. Minho let him take his time, patiently waiting for him to continue.

“I found seungmin in the middle of the shooting. He-he was covered in blood and I thought it was his. And he looked so frightened. Luckily he was ok. He had a vision right before the shooting and-,” he stopped talking, sucking in a breath.

“and?” minho prompted.

Hyunjin looked back up at minho, his eyes a dim gold. “and I was so scared. Not for me, but for _him_. what would have happened to him if he didn’t have a vision? I wasn’t even close enough in the area to get to him in time, not even with our speed. I-I almost lost him minho,” his voice was shaky, and his eyes watered slightly. Minho scooted closer, using his other hand to rub hyunjin’s shoulder.

“I’ve never felt fear like what I did in that moment, hyung. I sat there, in the middle of the chaos around us, and I was so so frightened. Without realizing it, he started to mean so much to me. I have to protect him more closely, but I cant do that if im not with him 24/7. So I gave him some of my blood. If he is ever in danger, when he calls my name I will come.”

Minho sighed. He should be reprimanding hyunjin and banishing him for what he did. they were never allowed to give a cherished their blood, the biggest taboo in their world. Hyunjin should be locked up right this instant, far away from the cherished he gave the blood to. It was a huge risk hyunjin was taking telling minho this, especially since he was next in charge.

“I know what I did. please just let me stay with him until this all blows over, until I know he can live out the rest of his life in safety. Then you can turn me in or take me away, I don’t care as long as he’s safe.” hyunjin tightened his hold on minho’s hand in seriousness.

Minho ran a hand through his hair and then he scoffed. Turn his friend in? like hell he would do that. minho gave hyunjin an evil smirk. Hyunjin should know him by now. Minho never followed the rules.

“oh quit being dramatic as fuck. I'm not going to turn you in. I just need to know one thing,” he leaned closer looking into hyunjin’s eyes so that he can read him carefully.

He continued, “giving seungmin your blood. Do you regret it?”

Hyunjin’s eyes blazed golden as he gave minho eye contact. Without blinking he declared, “No. Never. I will never regret what I have done.”

Minho leaned away, satisfied with his answer. He let hyunjin play with his rings again as he thought about everything. “damn. You really care for this cherished, don’t you? The almighty hyunjin, who could have any person in the world, decided to settle for a quiet, super smart, somewhat mischievous doctor who barely gives him the time of day.” Minho let out an obnoxious giggle at that.

Hyunjn glared up at minho. “oh really? And what about you? The infamous dancer minho, who is gorgeous and loves to play with people’s feelings as a hobby, leaving broken hearts in whichever city he steps, is now pining after a humble nurse with a bad temper. How does it feel to be on the receiving end of your little games you like to play? Jisung cant even tolerate being near you for five seconds, yet he lets the rest of us hang all over him.” hyunjin gave him a devil’s grin, knowing he was starting to push the older male’s buttons.

Minho’s smile dropped, and he yanked his hand away in petty anger. He raised his chin and sniffed, “I don’t know what you mean. We get along fine.”

“keep telling yourself that, hyung.” Hyunjin got up, deciding they have been away from the others for too long. “who are you trying to fool? We all see the way your eyes follow jisung wherever he goes, how much you want him. I think its about time you admit your feelings.” Hyunjin turned and headed for the door.

Once he was gone, minho sat there thinking about what he said.

Admit his feelings for jisung?

He laughed in the quiet room like a madman. He already did that a long time ago. There is another reason why he won't turn hyunjin in for giving seungmin his blood in order to protect him.

Because he would do the same thing for jisung.

***

The weeks went by in peace and soon spring was upon them. The nine of them made it a daily routine to always meet up at someone’s place after work or whatever it is they needed to do and spend the rest of the night together doing something fun.

However, the daemons listened to woojin’s warnings and tried to keep their distance from the cherished. They were as discreet about it as possible, and so far the cherished didn’t seem to catch on.

One night, they were all at a diner having dinner together, talking about their day and joining in playful banter. Hyunjin was stealing seungmin’s fries as the young doctor sat in a corner seat with his head in a book. Felix was trying to feed changbin bites of his food, the dark haired boy trying to ignore him but grumbling and letting felix have his way anyways. Chan was offering woojin some of his dessert, but woojin kept refusing to eat it because he hasn’t been very hungry recently. Jeongin was watching minho and jisung argue and fight over the last piece of meat, having chopstick wars. Jeongin laughed when jisung ended up winning in the end, rubbing it in minho’s face. Minho tried to steal the food back, but it was too late.

Soon it was getting late, and they had to go home. Changbin was the first to get up, heading to the door and saying goodbye. Felix no longer lived with him, moving back out once it was confirmed that the humans who were targeting them were taken care of.

Just as he brushed past their table to head out the door, chan grabbed his arm to stop him, his eyes glinting red. “Changbinnie, don’t leave just yet.”

Changbin looked down at him with confused eyes. “huh? Why not hyung?”

“just…maybe take felix with you tonight? He can sleep over?”

Felix perked up at the sound of his name, and he leaned in closer to see what was going on. “everything alright?” he asked brightly.

Changbin glared at chan, but he saw the look in chan’s face and the fight immediately left him. he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“no, apparently it isn’t. I cant believe im saying this, but felix could you come home with me tonight?”

Felix stood up without hesitation, a grin slowly making its way on his face. “you don’t even have to ask hyung! Of course ill come. Its my job to protect you!” he immediately latched onto changbin’s arm, but changbin no longer fought felix whenever he clung to him. in fact, on more than one occasion he’s been missing felix’s constant presence. Its like felix slowly made himself a part of changbin. but then recently felix hasn’t been as clingy as before, and it made changbin extremely upset for some reason. Of course, with his pride changbin would never admit it to the bubbly boy. he would never hear the end of it.

Chan sighed in relief. “thanks felix. Have fun you two,” he gave changbin a knowing look. Changbin ignored it and dragged felix out of the diner.

Hyunjin stood up, “I guess that’s our cue to go. Bye hyungs.” He tugged on seungmin’s sleeve, a silent request to get his attention away from his book. Seungmin looked up, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“ah, its this late already?” seungmin asked. Hyunjin nodded.

Seungmin stood up and handed his book for hyunjin to hold as he put on his jacket. Then he took his book back, and laced his hand with hyunjin’s and they started to head to the door. Seungmin has been doing this a lot lately, and hyunjin never has to ask or make an initiative for seungmin’s touch now. He squeezed seungmin’s warm hand as they stepped out into the chilly night, happier than he has ever been before, trailing after seungmin.

Jisung yawned, exhausted beyond belief. He hasn’t had much sleep lately. He stood up, kicking minho’s ankle. “come on useless pretty boy. I need someone to shield me as we walk down the street.”

“yah! Why are you such a terrible person?” minho whined back as he shoved the remainder of his meal into his mouth, ignoring jisung.

“I wanna go home!” jisung argued back, hands at his hips.

Minho sighed, “fine, lets go. See ya chan and woojinnie.” He stood up, glaring at jisung, but as he took a step he stumbled a little. Woojin looked up at him with worry in his eyes.

“you ok, minho?” he asked.

Minho gulped, composing himself hoping to god woojin won't see his face slightly flushed and sweat beading at the back of his neck. “yeah hyung, just tripped on jisung’s giant feet is all. See ya!” he smiled.

“hey! My feet are actually small, what the hell?” jisung shot back as he followed minho. Minho didn’t glance back, trying to get out of woojin’s knowing eyes before it was too late.

The fever was coming back in full swing. Minho has been expecting it for a while now, waiting for it to return. Plus he’s been avoiding touching jisung as much as possible, which is why it probably came back faster. This time around, its not going to be pretty.

Still, he has to avoid physical contact with jisung as much as possible until it blows over. Luckily, jisung is back in his own apartment, so it wont be a problem this time.

Woojin watched minho and jisung leave. Just he, chan and jeongin were left. Jeongin watched minho walk away slowly, knowing what was happening, but still keeping his word and not saying anything to woojin. Minho was right, woojin didn’t look so good these days and doesn’t need the extra burden to worry about.

Woojin turned to chan, who has been quiet since changbin left. “ok spill it. why did felix need to go with changbin this time?”

Chan smiled weakly at woojin. He grabbed the older boy’s hand, lacing their fingers together as he took another sip of his drink before speaking. “ah, just a feeling. Nothing too dangerous, but its possible changbin may have gotten jumped by some hooligans or something on the way back to his apartment. Its not changbin im worried about though. I was worried he would the beat the shit out of the little delinquents. Felix will stop him if he goes too far.”

Jeongin laughed, “hyung you sound like an old man. Who says ‘hooligans’ nowadays?”

Woojin frowned. “you know how protective felix is of changbin. if someone tries to attack him, even if its just a bunch of delinquents on the streets, he might not go easy on them.”

Chan paled, “shit I forgot. Well…lets hope nobody gets sent to the hospital tonight.” He shrugged, and rubbed circles on the back of woojin’s knuckles as he took another sip of his drink. Woojin let him, loving the feel of his warm skin against his own.

***

Jisung grumbled, punching his pillow for the one hundredth time that night. That didn’t work so he flopped over to the other side of his bed. He lay still for exactly five minutes before sitting up frustrated and annoyed, throwing his covers back in anger.

Ever since the break in a few weeks ago, his lock and door have been fixed. His apartment was now full-proof and he is moved back in and safe as can be. Minho is still next door, but now he has complete access to jisung’s apartment and jisung to his just in case something happens again. He appreciates how minho still lets him have his privacy, freedom, and independence even though it makes his job harder to watch over him. minho has tried really hard to not be a nuisance in jisung’s every day life.

However, its not the break in that is the cause of his restlessness and sleepless nights recently. Oh no, it was much much worse.

It was damn Lee Minho.

Somehow he ruined jisung’s sleeping pattern. Jisung was normally able to fall asleep right away, loving his bed and blankets all to himself. but now? Now he hasn’t been able to get a wink of sleep for many nights. How was he supposed to go from minho’s arms and body heat back to his soft mattress? This just makes jisung hate minho even more.

He looked over at his clock and whimpered. It read 2am. He has exactly 4 hours of sleep at the maximum before he’s gotta make it to work.

He trying lying on his back and doing breathing exercises to calm down his mind, but after 10 more minutes of unsuccessfully falling asleep he grabbed his pillow violently (even though he doesn’t plan on needing it) and stomped softly out of his apartment in his pajamas.

He tiptoed down the hall and unlocked minho’s apartment making sure to be quiet. Then he slowly made his way to minho’s bedroom pushing the door open. It creaked slightly, but not too bad. He stepped in and made the short distance to minho, where he can see the older boy sleeping. He was a soft lump half under his covers. Oh how jisung loved that comforter.

Jisung gulped when he noticed minho was shirtless again, not that he was complaining. As he approached, he leaned down to reach out and pull the covers back, but squeaked in surprise when minho flipped over and sat up ready to fight. His eyes were glazed over, and there was a sheen of sweat on his face and chest. His eyes flashed bright amber in the dark.

“jisung?” his voice came out garbled from being half asleep. Now that jisung thinks about it, minho is usually a light sleeper, so he was surprised he didn’t hear him coming sooner. “is everything alright, love?” he asked more clearly as he woke up.

Jisung melted when he heard minho’s soft melodic voice say his name. he stood there at the edge of the bed, a small bit of pride preventing him from speaking up. But soon exhaustion overtook him. he was tired and cranky, and more moody than usual. He’s gotten maybe 3 hours of sleep in a total of two days and he felt like crying from a mental breakdown, and it was all minho’s fault. Minho is going to have to take responsibility for what he’s done to jisung.

Minho waited patiently for jisung to speak up, his silver earring glinting in the dim streetlight coming from the window. Minho took note of jisung’s appearance. He didn’t seem harmed or scared, so he honestly has no idea what the blonde boy was doing in his room.

Jisung licked his lips from habit and looked up into minho’s eyes, decision made.

“uhh…I cant sleep. From the whole break in thing, you know…” ok so he lied a little bit. He still has some stubborn pride left in him, sue him. if it gets him a solid four hours of sleep in minho’s arms, he’ll take it. he licked his lips again in nervousness. “and I was wondering if I can, like, crash here? You know…until things return back to completely normal?”

He held his breath, waiting for minho to make fun of him, kick him out, or tease him. but minho did neither of those things.

Minho’s eyes softened, obviously believing the lie. Jisung honestly didn’t think he would get away with that. “of course jisungie. I'm glad you came to me. And because im feeling nice, you can even have my bed all to yourself with the comforter tonight. Ill take the couch.”

He made to get up and go into the living room, but jisung panicked, grabbing his arm before he even left the bed. “No!”

Minho looked down at jisung’s iron grip on his bare arm, the touch relaxing him like it always does. This is why he wanted to take the couch. He doesn’t know what he would do to jisung if his fevers get worse. He held in a moan of pleasure and looked to jisung with confusion.

Thank god it was dark, because jisung’s face was on fire. “No, I mean, c-can you…stay with me? Just for a few hours?” he mumbled very quietly, hating how vulnerable he sounded. But he was just so _tired_.

Minho looked at him, stunned. Jisung was still avoiding eye contact with him. the corners of his mouth curled up, but he didn’t say anything this time.

Minho used his other hand and grabbed onto jisung’s hand that was holding onto his arm and yanked. Jisung made an ‘oof’ sound as he fell onto minho’s bed. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and glared at minho. “what the hell was that for?”

“I thought you wanted to stay with me tonight, love,” minho argued with a playful tone. Jisung didn’t respond to that. he just angrily brought his pillow next to minho’s, shoved himself under the covers, and ‘hmphed’ loudly as he rolled onto his side with his back facing minho.

Minho chuckled in the dark and let jisung get over his anger for a few minutes. Then he scooted into the middle of the bed slightly, grabbed jisung by the waist, and with his incredible yet gentle strength he pulled jisung closer to him. he threw a leg over jisung’s hip, sighing internally and already feeling the aches and pains of his fever going away. He wishes jisung was shirtless, but he wasn’t going to push his luck.

Jisung was a little surprised but he didn’t complain. He shuffled around on the bed, pressing himself even closer to minho, curling himself into him. he breathed a deep sigh of content. Minho tightened his arm around jisung’s waist, his hand trailing up under his shirt so he could feel his bare skin, and caged the blonde to his body. he nuzzled his face into the back of jisung's neck, his warm breath and lips hitting his skin making jisung shudder in pleasure. jisung could feel minho's heart beating fast against him.

Finally jisung could fall asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Latch" by Disclosure feat Sam Smith
> 
> this was a shorter chapter, but necessary.


	14. Superstar

Changbin was reluctantly walking around his music store watering the many small potted plants and flowers that felix keeps insisting on decorating the place with. After pouring water into the final vase, he took a step back and sighed as he looked around his store. the place was built out of warm wood, but that was where it stopped. Since felix forced his way into changbin’s life, his place was now decorated with sheer green curtains on his windows ( _sea green_ as felix would keep correcting him, making him memorize the exact color), warm red vases and pots holding a variety of plants (plants that changbin would have a hard time killing, felix made sure), white doilies as place holders for a variety of things (they make the place more _homey_ , felix argued), and spots of blue and purple decorations here and there.

He should be mad at the pink haired boy, he really should. But he hates to admit that the place does feel more vibrant and lively with all of the mish mash of things he has added. Its like there’s a piece of felix in every room he goes into now. Even his office. Felix has somehow invaded his personal space as well. There’s a very beautiful cherry blossom vase containing a pretty flower sitting on the corner of changbin’s sleek and polished glass black desk. Felix also snuck in another day and hung up warm blue sheer curtains, replacing his gray ones. And he managed to throw away his gray and black modern throw pillows on his black couch and replace it with light pinkish and bluish gray throw pillows while also spreading a white cotton throw blanket across the back of it. Changbin could tell he tried to keep the sleek and modern look in his office but at the same time add a bit more color to his world. He decided he didn’t mind the adjustments. Felix also put a little red and black checkered scarf around Gyu, who was still sitting safely on the built in wall shelf behind his desk.

Luckily for changbin, felix hasn’t managed to invade his apartment since he only stayed with him for a few days at most. Any longer, and pretty soon changbin would start to see more random rugs and throw pillows randomly pop up around his place.

Soon everyone arrived after work, this time gathering in changbin’s store. He closed up the shop and continued putting last minute stuff away when felix skipped up to him, back hugging him.

“Binnie! I'm sorry I have to do this, but it was the most adorable thing I have ever seen in my life and I MUST share it with hyunjin.”

At the mention of his name, hyunjin perked up. “what do you have to show me, cupcake?”

“my blossom petal, you will squeal when you see these photos of binnie I secretly took last night when I stayed with him!” felix called over to hyunjin with a joyous giggle.

Changbin paled. He knows felix by now, and that joyous giggle means very bad things. and if he took photos of changbin last night…

He lunged for felix, dropping everything in his hands. Felix ducked, and in desperation changbin brought his hands up and tried to get felix’s phone from his tiny clutch. Felix didn’t expect him to use his telekinesis, and his phone lifted into the air and towards changbin. but it didn’t get far because he jumped up and snatched it back and raced towards hyunjin. Changbin fled after him, the other seven people in the room watching in amusement.

Felix ran around the music store laughing loudly. He hopped over the chair that changbin pushed in front of him, then ducked as changbin flicked his wrist and flung a whole rack of CDs at him.

The table in front of him shoved out by itself all of a sudden, making felix use his hands to vault over it and landing perfectly, spinning with a dab and posing.

“dammit felix! Delete those photos right now!” changbin growled out, his eyes glowing red.

“aw come on binnie! They are cute! I like your pink dinosaur onesie!” felix ran around a display case, peeking out from the corner at his angry little cherished. He heard rattling from a shelf above him, and then the rolls of posters that were stacked so nicely began to fall on him.

Felix dodged and then ran straight for changbin.

Changbin slid to the right, seeing felix come at him with impossible speed. Felix of course saw this and pounced, taking changbin down with him to the floor giggling, giving him pecks and wet smooches all over his face. Changbin was completely pinned to the ground due to felix’s inhuman strength, and so he had to suffer the assault of kisses in silence.

Chan sighed, “thank god felix put up those curtains in the windows. If anyone from the outside saw things flying through the air like that, we would have authorities down our throats in no time. Changbinnie, I keep telling you to be careful about where you use your gifts.”

“he made me do it-!” changbin argued, but was cut off when felix kissed him on the lips with a loud smack.

“im more worried about the public display of affection,” woojin commented, giving felix a warning look. But felix was too busy at the moment.

“im still waiting to see those photos of changbinnie, dove~” hyunjin called over with a laugh.

“does anyone else find their constant pet names and flirting with each other kind of creepy?” seungmin scrunched up his nose in mock disgust.

Minho, jisung, and jeongin all raised their hands.

“I think its kind of cute,” chan said with a laugh. woojin looked at him like he was insane.

While they were having this important debate, you could still hear changbin struggling from felix’s hold on the ground.

Jisung slammed his hands down on the table and stood up. “that’s it! seungmin get your ass over here, we cant let them out-cute us!”

Jisung leaned over minho to get to seungmin.

“no way!” hyunjin told jisung off, clinging his arm onto seungmin. “if seungmin is going to act cute with anybody, its going to be _me_! Buzz off,” hyunjin pouted. Seungmin coughed into his hand as his face went slightly red.

Jisung blinked at hyunjin. “excuse me?! Did you just indirectly take my best friend away from me? Oh hell no-" jisung tried to launch himself at hyunjin, but minho held him back.

“are you seriously starting a fight over something like that, love?” minho chastised jisung as jisung fought his hold.

“lemme go pretty boy! if anyone is going to give seungmin smooches, its going to be me!” he snapped his teeth at hyunjin. Seungmin snorted and rolled his eyes at jisung’s antics. Jisung had a jealousy streak like no other.

Minho laughed as he caged jisung against his chest with his iron grip, preventing his rabid and feral cherished one from biting a chunk from hyunjin’s arm that is currently clinging onto seungmin. hyunjin grinned evilly at jisung, nuzzling his face into seungmin’s shoulder to taunt him. Minho could almost swear that jisung growled.

Hyunjin stuck his tongue out at jisung, causing the blonde to gasp. He tried to launch himself again, only for minho to swing him around into his lap and keep him plastered to his chest. “not so fast sungie. We don’t want seungmin’s protector to be harmed with bite marks, now do we?”

Jisung stopped struggling and glared at hyunjin.

“I wouldn’t mind it if it was seungmin putting the bite marks on me,” hyunjin chuckled sweetly. Seungmin blushed even harder and smacked hyunjin’s head playfully. “ow!”

“quit provoking jisung, you are only making things worse,” seungmin laughed.

Just then, changbin’s front door opened and instantly the laughter and joking died in the room. It was so silent you could hear a coin drop.

In walked a very well tailored man in his forties, not a spot out of place on his suit and hair slicked back. He had an air of importance about him, making all eyes turn to him.

Instantly minho placed jisung off his lap and stood up, woojin scooched away from chan, and jeongin following suit. Hyunjin let his arm drop from seungmin. Felix took a little longer to very carefully stop straddling changbin on the floor and stood as well. They all bowed and kept their heads down in the position until they were told to relax.

“well I had a feeling something wasn’t right with you five, and it turns out I was correct,” the male said with a cold voice.

Woojin lifted his head slightly. “boss, if you would let me explain-“

“oh you are going to explain alright!” he barked out in fury, making everyone flinch. “you five, with me right this instant.” He turned on his shiny heel and stomped out of the music store.

Woojin gave chan a weak smile and followed immediately with jeongin on his heels. Felix ran after them, fear in his eyes. Hyunjin let his hand linger on seungmin’s arm a second longer and then left. Minho softly fixed some of jisung’s hair, and then was the last to leave.

Chan, changbin, seungmin, and jisung all sat there in silence for a few minutes, the other five long gone.

“what the hell just happened?” jisung asked.

***

“so let me get this straight,” their head boss glared down at the daemons with his hands clasped behind his back. “you five not only told the cherished all about us and who they are, but you also broke every other rule and protocol I so carefully set up. You fraternized with them, lived with them, lied to me about what happened with them, am I missing anything else?”

“no sir,” woojin answered for his team, his head in submission.

All of them kept very carefully blank faces, despite the fear they felt. Especially felix and hyunjin for what they did to their cherished.

“you better have a damn good reason for exposing us to them!” their boss yelled, losing his temper. JYP, the head of the protection department, stood silently to the back of the room, not allowed to interfere.

“they were in danger sir. Our cherished asked too many questions, and it accidentally slipped,” woojin tried to be vague to save all of their asses, but he couldn’t keep it up for long.

“then what the hell do I train you for?! Its your job to prevent this exact thing from happening. The fact that you let them into our world and they were put in danger shows how incompetent your team is and how unfit you are to be their leader.”

Minho’s head snapped up, instantly defending woojin as second in command. “sir, it wasn’t his fault-“

“I don’t want to hear a word from you Lee Minho! Don’t think I don’t know what you and the others have been doing. So far woojin and jeongin seem to be the only ones that semi followed my orders!” his voice rang throughout the conference room as he slammed some photos onto the metal desk. The pictures scattered revealing intimate moments between the cherished and the daemons. Felix laughing with changbin, hyunjin holding onto seungmin’s hand, minho leaning into jisung’s face proving it was too close to be a friendly chat. There were at least a hundred photos of them with the cherished over the weeks.

“you had us watched,” minho’s eyes flashed in anger, but it was immediately gone, his blank mask put back into place.

“yes I did. and rightfully so it would seem. You were clearly told not to get close to them. This obviously is the exact _opposite_ of my orders.”

“sir let us formally apologize to you-“ woojin tried to calm the situation.

“no, you had your chance woojin. Now its time for me to clean this little mess up that you all caused,” he spat coldly. “here is what is going to happen. You all are on suspension, forced to go back into training. Woojin is no longer leader of this team due to his incompetence to guide you all.”

“and what of the cherished?” JYP finally spoke up from the back of the room.

Their boss smiled coldly, “we cant have the cherished walking around knowing about us and what we do. they are a danger to themselves and others that way. Especially that little seungmin trying to play hero and saving everyone.” Hyunjin tensed at the way he was talking about seungmin, but bit his tongue. He doesn’t want to make the boss any angrier than he already is.

“right now they have two options ahead of them due to all of your mistakes,” their boss continued, smiling down at them. A cold sweat started to form at the back of minho’s neck. “they can be recruited into the agency, become a part of our world. They will be forced to go through the same exact training you all went through to get here. Then they will be placed on the clean up team. Especially changbin and seungmin with their incredible gifts.” Felix’s eyes flashed gold real quick in anger, but kept quiet.

“chan’s gift is useless to us, so he will be sent to the basement where he will do paperwork forever. Now jisung, his gifts are rare. He will be sent in on the front lines to scavenge any objects that we need him to glean,” the boss actually looked delighted at the idea of having powerful cherished in his grasp. Minho almost growled out at the thought of his jisung put in danger on a daily basis with the clean up crew.

The boss looked down at their expressions, and gave them mock sympathy. “now I don’t want to put the cherished through that, believe me I don’t. there is a reason they are protected so carefully.”

“and the second option?” woojin asked on an angry whisper.

“ah yes, the second option is a lot more kind and gentle for the cherished. I will have a member of our clean up crew wipe their memories completely of all of you and everything they know about us. That means every memory you shared with the cherished up until now will be completely erased and they all go back to their normal lives, living a happy and carefree life like they were supposed to before you all fucked it up. The rest of you will be banished from ever seeing them again until the day you die.”

Felix lightly breathed in a shaky breath and hyunjin squeezed his eyes shut. Minho gritted his teeth and jeongin glared at the floor in anger.

Only woojin didn’t show emotion. He looked their head boss straight in the eyes as he made the decision for them, “we take the second option.”

Their boss smiled warmly at them. “I was hoping you would say that. I love all of the cherished as much as you guys do.” to JYP he commanded, “call Ren down immediately. He has a long day ahead of him tomorrow.”

JYP nodded and left silently.

Their boss addressed each one of them as he spoke his next words, “I’m sorry it has come to this. I didn’t want to believe it when I saw the photos. But you all lost my trust the moment you disobeyed my orders. You all will restart your training the day after tomorrow. From this point onward, you will no longer see those four cherished, so it would be best to pretend they don’t exist. Remember, your purpose was to protect them. A human shield is all you are worth. If you were ever accomplish anything in your pitiful existence, it is to make sure they thrive. They are our future.”

He walked briskly to the door and slammed it shut, leaving woojin and his team in silence.

Felix sniffled, starting to let tears fall to the floor. Hyunjin went to rub his back in comfort. How could such a wonderful and carefree day end so horribly?

Woojin looked at his friends, not knowing what to say. “im sorry you guys. This is all my fault. I know I should have asked for your opinion when choosing what to do with the cherished but-“ he choked up on his words, slumping into a nearby seat.

Minho noted he looked more exhausted than he ever has.

“if you guys want to get mad at me, I completely understand,” woojin said sadly.

Felix blinked back some of his tears and shook his head, running up to woojin and leaning down to hug him and bury his head in his chest.

“you made the right choice hyung. th-they were going to make binnie and the others train and fight. How could I do that to him? how could I put him on the front lines and always in danger just because of a mistake I made? Y-you told me not to get close and I didn’t listen. I went against the rules a-and saved him with my blood and its all my fault!” felix mumbled into woojin’s shirt, crying even more now.

“wait, what did he just say?” minho asked.

Woojin rubbed felix’s back and let the younger boy sit in his lap. He looked at minho sadly. “its just as you heard. I was hoping the rest of you wouldn’t have to find out, in case it put you in unnecessary danger.”

“felix hyung gave changbin hyung some of his blood?” jeongin whispered with wide eyes, afraid someone outside of the room may hear. Woojin nodded.

“when?” minho asked, glancing at hyunjin.

“the day they were last attacked. Felix and changbin got run off the road by the car. They swerved back and shot at felix, but changbin stepped in front of him to protect him and took 3 bullets to the chest. He was going to die in minutes. Felix decided to save him. we tried to keep it quiet.”

“damn,” minho softly cursed.

“me too,” hyunjin spoke up. “I gave seungmin some of my blood too.”

Woojin’s eyes widened, and felix lifted his head from woojin’s shoulder while wiping some of his tears away. “what did you just say?”

“after the shooting, I gave some of my blood to him.”

Woojin sighed, rubbing his face. “anything else I should know about while we are at it? minho?”

Minho looked guiltily behind woojin’s head at the wall. “uh, jisung helped me with my touch craze and fevers?”

Woojin smacked his forehead. “it seems we all have been breaking protocol. Except for jeongin over here. You are our only hope child. Please never end up like us.”

Jeongin raised his hand, “actually I was there when jisung helped minho with his fever.”

“we’re doomed,” woojin declared with a hopeless chuckle. “I officially am the leader of a bunch of rebels.”

“hyung, you did the right thing. We don’t blame you. They were going to throw chan in a dark basement the rest of his life, and they were going to make the others go on whatever missions they are assigned. Getting their memories erased…this way is better.” Minho tried to reassure woojin, knowing the older boy is beating himself up over this while trying to remain strong.

Woojin smiled weakly at minho. “chan and the others…they are full of life and love. Our job is to protect them, and if sacrificing our memories with them saves them, then that’s what we are going to do to the very end. That will be the last thing I do as this team’s leader. When he talked about chan like that…” woojin held in a sob, trying not to show just how much it bothered him.

Minho stepped forward and placed a warm and strong hand on woojin’s shoulder, smiling down at woojin. “trust me hyung, we all hated the way he talked about our cherished like that. we all will back you up in whatever decision you make. We are a team after all.”

Felix hugged woojin around his neck, still sitting in his lap. Hyunjin stepped forward and leaned down awkwardly and hugged woojin and felix. Jeongin placed a hand on felix’s shoulder.

“now, where is that annoying Ren at? We have to talk to him before he sets off tomorrow to do as he was instructed,” minho declared.

Woojin raised his brows in surprise. “what are you thinking?”

“he better be gentle with my jisungie or he’s going to have hell to pay,” minho threatened.

The others chuckled, but knew minho wasn’t kidding.

***

“are you sure you want me to do this?” ren asked the next day as he turned and faced the four daimons. He has always been a part of the clean up crew for the agency. As a cherished, his abilities were to erase memories, making him very useful when things get out of hand or there are too many witnesses during a mission.

His red eyes contrasted with his ice blue hair as he watched the four in front of him. felix squeezed his fist, his fingernails digging into his skin and leaving red imprints. Minho glared into the space above Ren’s head, his face a cold mask with no emotion. Hyunjin shut his eyes, refusing to say anything. And woojin had a frown etched into his features.

“do we have a choice?” woojin spit out with venom at what they were forced to do.

Ren cocked his head to the side in thought, his delicate features betraying nothing of what he was thinking. It always unnerved minho, the dead cold stare that Ren could give a person. He was a beautiful cherished that the agency recruited long ago. One of the most beautiful minho has ever seen. Hell, he could even pass as a girl if he wanted to. But despite his beauty as a blessed one, minho has never felt anything for him. instead, intense eyes and blonde hair flashed in his mind. He ignored it.

“I mean, I could lie for you,” he eventually told them. “The boss and the others wouldn’t have to know. You know I have always hated working for our agency.”

What he was proposing was risky, and woojin appreciated the notion. But woojin shook his head. “if they find out, they might take the cherished away. They will separate them from their normal lives and treat them like livestock. We wouldn’t be able to live with ourselves knowing we helped cause that. in the end, as long as they are happy, we will be fine.”

“will you regret it? them not remembering you?”

Felix looked away, his eyes threatening to water. Hyunjin grabbed his hand and tried to massage it and loosen felix’s harsh grip.

Woojin smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “by this point, the only thing we regret is keeping these memories and not being able to share it with them. We were told not to get close, but we didn’t listen. Now we must pay the consequences.”

Ren nodded, understanding his answer. He tapped his chin with a slender finger in thought for a few moments. Then he smiled a sly smile. “well then. Do you have any last words to give them before they forget you forever? Its not protocol, but ill make an exception for you.”

Woojin was surprised by the offer and looked to his team, silently asking them. Minho continued to glare at nothing, and hyunjin bit his lip.

If you only had one last chance to say something to the person that matters most, what would you say? How can you convey all of those feelings into a few words?

They all looked miserable, and Ren’s heart broke at the sight.

Woojin finally breathed in a deep breath and made the decision for them. “just, I know its asking a lot, but can you let us finish out the day with them? Spend the last few hours with them like everything is normal?”

Ren nodded his head, agreeing. “ill come stop by each of your work places and take care of them one by one. But you must leave with me right afterwards.” They all nodded in agreement before leaving the agency to say their goodbyes.

***

Later that day, Ren walked into Chan’s bakery acting as a customer thinking of buying something sweet. Woojin’s heart dreaded what was going to happen next.

Before he showed up for work, woojin told chan that they all broke protocol for something on their mission and were reprimanded by their boss. It wasn’t a lie, and chan didn’t ask any more questions. They continued their day peacefully. Chan made woojin drink some more tea that made him feel better, and they joked about how felix is practically torturing changbin with his happy self. It was a nice day, and woojin felt almost happy. Deep down in his heart, he wished that they could be like this forever. But that was an impossible wish, even if chan didn’t have his memories erased.

Chan stared at the blue haired customer for a few moments, and then gave him his bright smile with dimples. “how can I help you today?” he asked cheerfully.

Ren cleared his throat. “uh yes, I was wanting to buy a specially made cake. Do you do that here?”

Chan clapped his hands. “of course! Why don’t you come around back to my office and we can discuss what kind of cake you want?”

Ren nodded, and chan lead him to the back room. Woojin was still at the counter, watching with a blank gaze as they passed by. Before chan disappeared around the corner, he stopped in front of woojin.

He smiled sadly while placing his hand on woojin’s shoulder in comfort.

“Thank you.”

Woojin looked at him confused. “Uh, your welcome? But for what exactly, channie?”

“For everything. I’m going to miss you.”

And with that, he walked to his office leaving woojin a confused and heart broken mess.

***

Ren walked into the hospital, heading straight for hyunjin like they agreed earlier that day. He was to pretend to be a patient for seungmin to examine.

Hyunjin hung his head as he searched for seungmin in the hospital. Finally, he found the young doctor talking to a colleague in the hallway.

“Ah! Seungminnie! Could you come here for a second once you are done? I have someone I need you to look at.”

Seungmin turned his head and nodded, ending his conversation before coming over to hyunjin with a huge smile on his face. God how hyunjin was going to miss that smile. Seungmin reached for hyunjin’s hand, lacing their fingers together briefly before letting go and turning towards the patient.

“hello, how can I help you today?” he said sweetly to his patient.

Hyunjin looked around frantically in the hallway before spotting what he was looking for. He grabbed seungmin’s hand and dragged him towards an empty examination room.

To ren he said, “wait here for a second. Please? I need to speak to him really quick.”

Ren nodded and waited outside of the door.

Hyunjin slammed the door shut and turned to seungmin.

“hyunjin? Whats going on? Who’s that patient you need me to examine? Is he another daemon like you guys?” he whispered that last question so nobody would hear him.

Hyunjin shook his head. “not exactly. Seungmin, I need you to listen very carefully to me, ok? Please don’t interrupt until the end.” He stepped closely to seungmin, tracing his hands up and down his arms.

His serious tone caught seungmin’s attention and he nodded, indicating for him to continue.

Hyunjin took a deep breath, and poured out all of his feelings even though seungmin wont remember it.

“you are amazing, did I ever tell you that? I admire how strong you are. You’re beautiful, and kind, and smart. I love your glasses, and this cute little freckle here on your cheek. I love your laugh and how much you care for others. I love everything about you.”

Seungmin blushed. “what-what brought this on all of a sudden?”

“Never change. Always be yourself, because I can see how wonderful you are, even if you don’t. I know you sometimes think your life is meaningless. You worry whether you are doing the right thing, whether anybody can see the real you. And even if they _can_ see the real you, do they even care? Are you special enough? Does anybody even notice you?”

Seungmin’s eyes started to water, those words hitting very close to home. _What is going on?_

Hyunjin leaned in, his breath shakey as he placed a soft kiss to seungmin’s forehead. “I once heard a quote that I liked a lot,” he murmured, his lips still brushing seungmin’s forehead.

“and what did it say?” seungmin whispered, his eyes closing so that he could keep the tears in. it was unnatural for him to be this emotional and it was starting to scare him.

Hyunjin kissed his forehead again. “it said something like ‘To the world you are just one person. But to one person you are the world.’ I liked that quote. It made me think of you. To me you are _irreplaceable_.”

He leaned away from seungmin’s forehead, looking down at his cherished for one last time.

“If you ever are in danger, call my name. I’ll always come to you, no matter where you are. Always.”

Seungmin nodded, now knowing the meaning behind those words.

“but hyunjin, what is going on? Did something happen yesterday-“

Hyunjin abruptly stepped away from seungmin, devastated on what was going to happen in the next minute. But this is all for seungmin’s sake.

He stepped out of the exam room, and before seungmin could follow him, Ren stepped inside and gently shut the door.

***

Felix was sitting up on the countertop in the music store, swinging his legs playfully as he sucked on a lollipop. He watched as changbin walked around watering all of the potted plants that felix placed everywhere. Its become his daily routine now, and he grumbled curses at felix while doing it.

“don’t forget the vase on your desk binnie!” felix called over with a giggle. Changbin glared over at him, and felix gave him a huge grin. When changbin turned back around and headed to his office to do as he was told, felix’s smile dropped. Hes been trying his hardest to remain normal all day.

He just wants to curl up next to changbin and keep him close to him for forever. He wants to wake up next to him, watch as the sun shines on his dark hair and lashes. He wants to be able to trace his lips whenever he feels like it. kiss him whenever he has the urge, which is quite often.

When did he start to feel these things? and why changbin?

He guesses he will never get the answers to those questions now.

“-lix. Felix!” changbin waved his hand in front of felix’s face to get his attention. “ok spill it. I know you by now and obviously something is up. Are you sure it was nothing with your boss yesterday?”

Felix looked at changbin with wide eyes. How did he guess? Did changbin really pay that much attention to felix? He thought he annoyed the older boy. I mean sure, they shared a kiss but that was just frustrating hormones or whatever, right? They never talked about it afterwards, and then felix had to start keeping a distance so that they wouldn’t get found out. not that it mattered now.

“i-its nothing,” he lied. Changbin frowned, obviously not believing him. he put his hands on his hips, about to lecture the pink haired boy until he told him what was wrong, when suddenly his front door opened and a pretty boy with blue hair walked in.

Felix whimpered, realizing his time was up as Ren approached him. changbin turned, ready to take care of the customer. “ah, hello! Ill be right with you,” then he glanced back at felix. Felix had a horrified expression on his face, and he was pale.

“Lix? Are you okay?” changbin reached to touch felix’s forehead, but felix grabbed changbin’s shirt and dragged the dark haired boy to him. he crashed their lips together in desperation, surprising the hell out of changbin.

Before changbin could even respond to the kiss, felix ended it. he was a sobbing mess as he watched Ren gently tap on changbin’s shoulder to get his attention. Changbin licked his lips of the sweet taste felix left from his lollipop, and turned facing the customer.

A glint of red eyes was the last thing he saw.

***

 Jisung was just returning after a long day at the hospital. He tried calling seungmin earlier, but he didn’t pick up for some reason. He wanted to go get coffee with his friend down at chan’s place, but now he decided to just go home early. He was kind of dead tired anyways. Maybe he could rope minho into spending some time with him.

What he really wanted was to fall asleep next to minho again, but he can only play the ‘im scared’ card for so long before minho suspects something is up.

He stopped in front of minho’s door, deciding what to bother him with before knocking when he heard someone coming up the stairs.

A beautiful boy with ice blue hair turned the corner and headed down the hall towards jisung.

“uhm? Can I help you? How did you get in here?” jisung asked, nervous it was someone else trying to attack him. minho reassured him and the others that the anti-cherished were taken care of, but that doesn’t mean more wont pop up later.

Suddenly, he heard a “wait!” and then minho came running up the stairs at an incredible speed and rushed past the blue haired boy.

“give me a few minutes!” minho panted, addressing the newcomer. The male nodded and waited a few feet away.

“minho, what the hell is going on?” jisung asked, confused as to what was happening in his hallway.

Minho stepped towards jisung, giving him an intense stare that made jisung feel uneasy. Minho almost didn’t make it in time. Escaping the eyes of the agency was harder than he thought it was going to be.

He grabbed jisung’s shoulders and pushed him against his apartment door. He leaned in close, their bodies fitting together perfectly.

“wh-what are you doing?” jisung whispered with wide eyes.

Minho reached up and undid one of jisung’s earrings. Then he did the same to his own silver earring, swapping the two. He admired his earring in jisung’s ear, letting it dangle against his neck.

“minho? Youre scaring me,” jisung told him, his voice a little shaky. Minho was acting so strange and quiet. He showed no emotion on his face, and it unnerved jisung. Where was that cocky smirk he was so used to? And why did minho take his earring and give him his own in return?

Minho continued to stare at jisung with a blank face. He gently trailed his fingers up jisung’s arms to his shoulders. He gazed into jisung’s eyes and then glanced down at his lips.

It was now or never.

“I swear to god if you don’t tell me what in hell is going on, im going to beat your-“

Minho pressed jisung into the door and shut him up with his lips. It was so sudden, jisung didn’t see it coming. He closed his eyes without hesitation, bringing his hands up to wrap around his neck and run through minho’s hair.

Jisung had no idea why minho was kissing him, but he was loving every second of it. he stood up on his tip toes to bring himself even closer to the older boy. minho wrapped his arms around jisung’s waist and back tightly, like jisung would disappear if he let go.

The feel of minho’s lips finally connected to his was the best feeling in the world. Jisung’s heart was racing and he thought he was going to faint from pleasure.

He didn’t know how long they made out in the hallway, but jisung broke away so that he could gasp for air. He got a total of 2 breaths in before minho pressed his body even harder into jisung and slammed his lips back onto jisung’s.

Normally by this point jisung would be cackling evilly in triumph, finally able to get minho to give in to him. he did it! he won the game! He won the fight!

But for some reason, jisung could tell something was wrong. Minho was kissing him so harshly, so desperately. He was devouring jisung’s lips like he was a starved man. He bit, sucked, and bruised them. Their tongues tangled together causing minho to moan into the kiss. His fingers dug into jisung’s skin, leaving marks even through his clothes.

Minho broke away to gasp for more air. They were both panting heavily, jisung inhaling as much oxygen as he could. Jisung saw minho’s eyes filled with lust, want, need. Maybe even something else.

Minho brought his hand up and threaded it through jisung’s hair, loving how thoroughly kissed jisung looked. “More.”

Then he connected their lips for a third time. Jisung met him head on, always liking it a bit rough. He clutched onto the front of minho’s shirt as he kissed him back. His head felt dizzy and his mind was clouded. Minho filled up all of his senses. His body was on fire, and his face was flushed. His hair was probably a mess from minho tugging on it. damn, was minho a good kisser.

They broke again for air. Minho brought his hand up to trace jisung’s swollen lips, his own just as equally swollen and bruised. He smirked. He always figured jisung was a bit on the wild side.

“More,” he said again.

And then he used his thumb that was tracing jisung’s bottom lip to open his mouth so that he could lick every inch inside. Jisung moaned, trying to fight for dominance to do the same. At this point, minho was kissing him so passionately that all he could do was take what minho was giving him. he never wanted it to stop.

“ahem,” someone cleared their throat. Jisung forgot they had company. But right now minho was kissing him like his life depended on it, so he didn’t care.

Minho’s kisses started to slow down, dragging his lips and tongue with jisung’s lazily, leasurely. Finally he broke away, sighing as he connected their foreheads so that he could catch his breath yet again.

Minho doesn’t think he will ever be able to catch his breath. Not with jisung. because every time he sees jisung, the blonde will always end up taking it away.

Minho loosened his hold on jisung and slowly stepped away. He felt like he was walking on glass as jisung’s body heat began to get further and further away.

Ren walked up, and jisung stared at him curiously. He licked his swollen lips.

“mind telling me what he is doing here?” jisung breathed out.

Ren ignored the question, and brought his hand up to cover jisung’s eyes.

“hey! What are you doing! Minho, get him off of me!”

Ren’s eyes flashed a wine red color, and then jisung was silent and no longer struggling.

Minho watched as the light disappeared from jisung’s eyes, all of their memories together slowly being erased. Jisung looked at minho, seeing him but no longer knowing him. he slid down the door and slumped to the ground, closing his eyes and letting sleep take him.

When ren was done, minho stepped forward and kneeled in front of jisung. he traced his fingertips lovingly down the side of jisung’s temple to his jaw.

Minho cried as he tried desperately to commit jisung’s face to memory.

It wasn’t something dramatic like he’s seen in the movies or dramas. He was just staring down at the best thing that has ever happened to him crumble into a million pieces, and then realized jisung’s face looked a little blurry. He touched his cheek, and _oh hey_ , he’s crying silently and can’t stop now.

He’s never cried before. Not even on the day when he lost everything and was taken in by his agency to train to be a supernatural agent. He didn’t cry during the harsh training he endured. he didn’t cry when he found out about his condition and the little time he has left in this world.

So why is he crying now? Its not like jisung is going anywhere. He will live a perfectly normal life, safe and surrounded by his other blessed friends. he doesn’t need minho in his life. minho is like a small weed in his otherwise beautiful flower garden: meaningless; there but not significant. Jisung will continue to spend his days in peace, maybe even move out of this apartment eventually, fall in love with someone and be happy.

That’s how it should be. Minho’s job was done and now he must go, like all of the other assignments he’s completed over the past few years.

So why is the thought of jisung no longer remembering him making his heart ache with a dull pain? Why does he feel like sobbing, wishing jisung would just wake back up and glare at him, or kiss him, or yell at him and tell him he was annoying like he always does?

Sometimes, tears are the words that the heart can’t say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Superstar" by Marina
> 
> A fitting song to this chapter's ending.


	15. What A Feeling

**Six months later: Autumn**

Jisung huffs, tossing and turning on his bed. It was another sleepless night for him. for some reason, it has been happening more often than not, and he honestly has no idea why.

He just woke up one morning in the spring with a splitting headache, and ever since then he gets them off and on. At first it was a constant occurrence, but he just figured it was from the weather changing. He sees patients come in all the time with head colds and sinus infections from the pressure change due to the transition from cold to warm weather.

In fact, it was so common that even chan, seungmin, and changbin all were getting headaches too. Chan just figured it was his lack of sleep, and seungmin chalked it up to stress from his extra shifts at the hospital. changbin... well he is always full of anger and fury, so nobody listened to his complaints.

After some time, the headaches started to go away. Sometimes they still occurred, but working at a hospital and trying to pay your bills was stressful, ya know?

Those were fine. but what was really weird was jisung’s bed. There's nothing technically wrong with it, its just that jisung wasn’t as comfortable as he used to be. He’s had this same bed for a few years now, and he practically worships it. there's nothing more that jisung loves in this world as much as he loves his bed. As soon as his head hits the pillow, he’s out like a light and sleeps like a baby. His bed was the only thing keeping him going during the day, what with the few hours of sleep he gets each night.

But for six months now, it just wasn’t as comfortable as it used to be. He’s tried everything, from meditating, listening to soothing music, yoga. When that didn’t work, he thought that maybe it was his bedding. So he went out to get new ones, but that only made things worse. He knows its not his mattress either, and refuses to buy a new one.

Why does it feel cold like its missing something?

He flopped from his side to his back, frowning at the ceiling and sighing. Some nights he’s able to get a decent sleep (mainly from being exhausted), but it looks like tonight is not one of those nights.

He looked at his clock and saw it read 2am. He groaned in frustration. The place was dark and silent, with a little bit of moonlight seeping in through his windows. His landlady stayed during the summer, so he always heard at least a little bit of movement in his apartment building. But once the leaves started to change colors and the air became crisp and cool with autumn, she left to go to a vacation home on some beach somewhere to stay during the colder months. The apartment next door to him has always been empty and silent ever since his previous neighbor moved out over a year ago.

___

Jisung blinked at the sound of his alarm clock going off. He slowly got up, rubbing his face in exhaustion. He didn’t even sleep a wink, too busy lost in his thoughts the entire night.

He made his way to his bathroom and turned on his shower, almost reminding himself not to make it too hot in case someone else needed to use the hot water at the same time. He touched the faucet to the shower and frowned. Nobody but him has been staying in this apartment building for over a year now, the landlady not included. He never has to worry about using too much hot water, so why should he start now?

He shook his head and continued on with his morning routine.

***

“hey seungminnie~” jisung sing-songed to try and get his friend’s attention. They were currently sitting at a table in chan’s bakery after work. Jisung was laying across the top of it like a slob, toying with a stack of papers seungmin brought with him from his office. Seungmin had his glasses on, reading some file or whatever, ignoring jisung and his whining for constant attention.

“Seungminnieeee,” jisung pouted.

Changbin snorted, looking up from his phone. “seungmin would you answer him already. He’s giving me a migraine.”

Seungmin hummed in response, giving in finally. “yes? I'm listening.”

“do you ever feel like you forgot something important, but you’re not sure what?”

Seungmin put down his papers slowly and looked at jisung. There was a little frown at the corners of his mouth, and his eyebrows furrowed together in thought.

Changbin laughed, “jisung you forget everything on a daily basis! What is it this time? Your phone? Your bag? Did you lose your keys again?”

Jisung sat up glaring at changbin. “im serious hyung! Sometimes I just get this aching feeling in my chest like I forgot something really important. Like its at the tip of my tongue, just out of reach, but im never able to remember it.” he crossed his arms cutely in a huff, daring changbin to argue.

Changbin waved it off. “sure sungie, we all feel like that at times. I'm sure you will remember eventually. Hopefully its not something stupid, like leaving the stove on.”

“that was one time! And I raced home to turn it off no more than 10 minutes later!” jisung argued back.

Seungmin sat there as they bickered back and forth, his finger marking his page as he thought about what jisung said. the way jisung described it was scary accurate. He’s been feeling this way now for almost six months.

“Sometimes.” Seungmin said quietly, causing jisung to turn his head. Jisung tilted his head waiting for seungmin to continue.

Seungmin shook his head and went back to his reading. He grabbed the mug of tea he ordered and took a sip.

Jisung glanced at his order in curiosity. “hey Minnie,”

Seungmin sighed, glancing at his friend. “what is it now sungie?”

“since when do you drink warm milk tea? I thought your favorite was always green tea.”

Seungmin was about to take another sip, pausing in mid air. He frowned again at his order. Jisung had a point. He always preferred drinking green tea.

He put the cup down, staring at it like it was a foreign object. He pursed his lips, his head starting to hurt.

“I guess I just felt like having warm milk tea for a change. I added extra milk in it and its surprisingly good,” he answered back coolly, shrugging away his uneasiness.

Jisung stared at him for a second, but then let it go. He rested his head on his arms, laying across the table again, bored out of his mind.

Just then, chan came out from his back room, finishing up a call. He managed to catch a little bit of their conversation before stepping out and behind his counter.

He ran his hands through his hair, and sighed in distress really loudly. “remind me to never take special ordered cakes. Its too much of a hassle,” he told his friends. he walked from behind the counter and went straight for his front door, switching the “open” sign over so that it read “closed.” He has had a long day.Turning away from the door and towards his friends, he sighed again.

Chan looked around at his bakery through confused eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time.

“whats wrong channie?” jisung asked, sitting up once again.

“nothing. Its just… im so sad,” he answered back finally.

“why?” changbin questioned, putting his phone down and giving him his full attention. it was rare for chan to voice his worries and frustrations so openly.

chan’s eyes softly glinted red in the light. “I just get this _feeling_. I can see it, echoes of someone left behind. Someone important.”

“someone we should be worried about?” seungmin asked, putting his stuff away, giving up for the afternoon.

Chan shook his head. “this aura, its so faint I can barely see it. but its there. Light traces in the smallest of places. Its curling itself around my space like it _belongs_ here.” He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, letting the aura hug around his body.

 “why do I feel like crying so hard from loneliness?” he whispered out loud to himself.

The others just sat there, not knowing what to say. It seems as if everybody hasn’t been okay, at least for a while now. When did things start to become such a mess?

***

After spending a little more time at chan’s, Jisung walked to his apartment, stopping in front of his own door. He glanced to the empty apartment next to his, frowning. He turned, glaring at the door.

He took a step, and another, until he was in front of the other door. He pressed his hands to the wood, listening to it through touch, trying to hear its story. He knit his brows in frustration, not hearing anything. An ache started to form in his chest, almost like he was disappointed the apartment was empty.

He was always able to hear something, especially in a building as old as this one. Every object in this world has memories only he can see. When he was younger, it was hard to control. Every little thing he touched would send him into flashbacks of times that left the biggest impact on that object. It was overwhelming to the point where he was scared to touch anything. However, as he got older, he was able to control it. he can now pick and choose whether he wants to read an object or not. most of the time, he almost never uses his psychometry. He likes living normally.

With one last caress, he turned and walked back to his own apartment, shrugging the ache away.

***

Changbin walked into his store a little later, looking around. he really needs to find another employee to take the load of work off his shoulders. But nobody has wanted to work for him since the day he fired the teenager who was swiping his cash earlier in the year.

He walked through the front, running his fingertips absentmindedly across the wooden counter, his soft playlist playing on the speakers throughout the store. he looked around at his warm toned wooden shelves containing endless amounts of CDs and other music. The last of the afternoon light was filtering in through his open glass windows, bathing everything in a glow. Chan once nagged at him to get curtains for them when he first bought the music store, but changbin never listened. And even jisung told him he should try to decorate the place a little more, but changbin likes it just the way it is.

He frowned, looking around once again.

Everything was in its exact spot as it should be, but yet something didn’t feel right.

Was his place always this empty?

Lost in his thoughts, changbin headed to the sink in the back room, filling up a large cup of water.

_Ah, I almost forgot to water the plants._

He stopped himself, looking down at the cup filling with water. His hands started to shake, and he dropped the glass harshly in the sink. It was a miracle it didn’t break. He backed away abruptly, the water still running from the faucet. He looked down at his quivering hands.

He didn’t own any plants. He never grew flowers, not having the patience to take care of them. Why the hell would he think he had to water plants out of the clear blue?

Chan’s words came back to him from earlier that day.

_I can see it, echoes of someone left behind. Someone important._

Changbin clenched his fists and took a step towards the water, shutting it off. He rubbed his face, his head and heart hurting.

***

Seungmin sat up against his headboard, reading a book before going to sleep. he’s been on the same page now for what seemed like an hour, not really comprehending the words swimming on the pages before him. he was thinking about what chan and jisung said earlier.

He unconsciously looks over to the empty space next to him on the bed. He seems to be doing that a lot lately. He feels like he’s missing something, like that space shouldn’t be empty.

He closed his book and sighed, slipping under his covers and going to bed, oddly feeling cold (despite his warm covers) for yet another night.

***

Chan spent his days feeling like he was continuously searching for something that cant be found. He had a feeling he once knew what that thing was.

He stopped what he was doing, leaning on his counter and staring at one of his tables in the far corner. His eyes seem to linger there continuously as the days go by. its been like that for a few months now.

He continued to try and put the missing pieces together. His head started hurting and he had a raging headache the harder he tried.

No, it wasn’t a _thing_ he was desperately calling out for. It was a _who_.

He gritted his teeth in frustration, feeling angry for no reason. he knows someone used to be here in his bakery. They used to be a part of his every day, he can see remnants of their aura ghosting over his things and making a home for itself in the nooks and crannies of his life.

Why did they disappear?

The better question he should be asking himself is: why cant he remember them?

A memory flickered, almost like he was experiencing déjà vu:

 

_Chan glanced over at the dark brown haired male sitting at one of his tables for a few hours now, watching him sigh yet again. Chan studied the boy, and his eyes softened at the bored expression on his face._

_He leaned against his countertop on one of his hands, tilting his head and debating. he realizes quickly that he appears to be stuck in one of those life changing or altering moments you see all the time in movies. Time seemed to stop as he stared._

_Should he ask him? Is it a risk he’s willing to take? Will he regret this later?_

_Better yet, will he regret it even more if he didn’t ask him?_

 

Chan knew he made a very important decision at one point in his life. he remembers thinking those thoughts, but he doesn’t have the answers to those questions.

What did he ask that boy?

Did he ever regret it?

He walked over and sat down on a chair at the table he had been staring at, letting his mind blank out and his eyes glaze unfocused at his place. He sighed, blinking and just staring, trying to remember _anything_.

He saw purple glittering over the table in front of him, the one the boy sat at. This person was intelligent.

He saw green and yellow dusting itself like powdered sugar all over his countertop and cash register. They must have brought happiness and compassion with them, spending a great deal of time in those particular places.

He got up from the table and followed the imprints of the familiar aura on the way to his back room where he helps customers discuss what types of special orders they want. He stopped right before he turned into the hallway, and stared at the ground.

Chan saw a dark shade of blue lightly glinting on the floor. Whatever happened here, it was a very sad moment to be able to imprint itself in this spot for so long. He bent down and swiped his fingers gently on the flooring.

He didn’t sense any signs of struggle or tragedy, so it must have been something else that happened here.

Suddenly, a feeling came to him. He now knew that whatever happened to him that caused his memories to disappear, it all started here.

He decided he managed to answer one of his questions from that forgotten memory. He must have taken a risk after all.

Now he must ask himself: did he regret making that decision? From the feel of the sadness in this area, he must have regretted it.

Right?

Chan stood up and glanced around his bakery another time, watching the mix of colors shine under the lights once again. They were slowly fading away by the day, causing chan to panic. He wanted this aura to stay with him forever. He felt safe and content with it around.

Green, yellow, purple. _Happiness, hope, intelligence._

But most of all pink, red, red-orange. _Passion, desire._

_Love._

Did he regret his decision?

No. chan didn’t regret it. whatever he did in the past, he most certainly did not regret making that decision. he is sure of it. there must be a damn good reason why his and the other’s memories were forgotten. And now he is more than determined to make things right.

Here’s a list of what chan knows.

He knows that this person who left such a potent mark on his life is someone very important to him. He knows that this person is meant to be a part of his life. He knows that he was happy here with this person...he knows that wherever he goes, he will be looking for him.

But don’t ever ask Chan how he knows this.

_He just has a feeling._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "What a feeling" by One Direction


	16. Nothing Breaks Like A Heart

“how’s woojin doing?” minho muttered to felix as he took a seat in their conference room. He shut the door tight, making sure no one could hear them. Ever since they were banished from their assignments back in spring, no one from the agency has dared to talk to them for fear of angering their head of the government department.

Sir Park was feared among all of the cherished and daimons that worked under him. he subjected them to strict rules, excruciating training, and impossible missions. It was never wise to get on his bad side. Minho and the others were lucky with their punishment for disobeying him. having their cherished’s memories erased and being banished to see them was like a slap on the wrist compared to what he could’ve done.

His tendency to be cruel is well known. Its part of the reason why Park Jin Young, the one who is in charge of only Woojin’s team, changed his name to ‘JYP.’ He doesn’t want other cherished and daemons to get him confused with the head of their department. As far as anyone is concerned, JYP lives a quiet life. he completes his duties like he is supposed to, and then goes and does his own thing. He tries not to be too involved with the organization and avoids conflict at all costs.

Despite their head boss being a complete hard ass, as long as you followed his rules and became the perfect soldier, you didn’t have any problems. It was a fair trade. He offered payment, food, housing, the needs to survive on your own. He gave them everything they could ask for, especially to those who had no where else to go.

Minho heard through rumors over the years that Sir Park was a cherished himself who had to fight his way in this world to survive. When he became old enough, he set out to build a hidden organization within the government to support cherished just like him. it was a protection program, but he also ran operations to eliminate any threat to the cherished and daemons alike. The human government officials had no idea what they _really_ did or who they _really_ were. As far as they knew, they worked like secret agents, protecting people of ‘high importance.’

Sir Park liked to refer to their unit as ‘East of Eden,’ a silly pun of his that made minho grit his teeth every time the name was mentioned. Park managed to prosper with his little organization, recruiting daemons and cherished from all over the world. He set up a very careful system of matching a daemon with a cherished. The daemon was required to protect this cherished for a small amount of time, and then move on to another cherished to protect. They were never allowed to get too close to a cherished.

That was where minho was slightly confused. Why was it so forbidden to get close to a cherished? Why are they so harsh with that one particular rule? Wouldn’t it be better to build a bond of trust with the cherished so that the daemon could protect them better?

He never voiced these questions out loud, except for with woojin and the others of his team.

“ahh, woojin hyung? He’s…hanging in there,” felix answered him. he looked down at the table, upset with how things are going. Ever since the day they were banished, felix hasn’t been able to smile like he used to.

“how much longer?” minho whispered.

Felix shook his head, holding back tears. “not long. A month at most, maybe two months if we’re lucky? He officially resigned, and has been spending his time at home.”

Minho nodded, a frown at the edges of his lips. Ever since they were forced to re-train, Sir Park was especially hard on woojin despite his failing health. It wasn’t fair. Woojin was being punished for the mistakes minho and the rest made, but not once did woojin hold it against them. He believes he was just as guilty as the rest of them. It made minho wonder just how much woojin truly cared for chan to willingly put himself through that.

“as long as he is getting the rest he deserves,” hyunjin muttered, coughing a little. Jeongin grabbed his hand to soothe him. so far, jeongin was the only one who didn’t have to go through as much re-training as the others. Woojin vouched for him, claiming that jeongin was simply following his orders and had no idea what he was doing, much to jeongin’s dismay. Jeongin argued with woojin about it, but eventually gave in when woojin made him promise to try and look out for chan and the others in their place.

Minho sighed, propping his feet up on the table. How did it come to this?

It was silent in the room for a long time, nobody having the heart to say anything. The air hung with a heaviness that they all felt in their chests.

“do you think we will ever see them again? Before…you know,” hyunjin whispered, breaking the silence.

Felix sniffled, laughing humorlessly. “I doubt it. this is so fucked up. So what if I made out with binnie? Its not like it’s the end of the world. It’s not like we were going to get married and live out our days together.” He wiped his eyes, trying to hold back tears he thought he was done shedding months ago.

Minho closed his eyes at the harsh bite to felix’s voice, folding his arms across his chest. Felix hasn’t been bright and bubbly for awhile now. It was as if the moment he had to walk away from changbin he lost a piece of himself. hell, hyunjin wouldn’t even talk to anyone for a whole month, which shocked woojin and minho the most. Hyunjin was always able to bounce back after leaving people behind.

It seems this time was different for all of them.

Minho breathed in deeply, trying to keep his team together. That’s right, _his_ team. As in, no longer woojin’s, which made minho feel miserable. He was never one for being a leader, at least not an official one. He liked to be in the background, helping out as much as he could in his own secret way. His personality was pretty vicious, and he was heartless and cold to anyone other than the people he cares about. This made dealing with the politics within his line of work very difficult.

He looked to felix with a gentle smile on his face. You always had to be careful with felix. He wore his heart on his sleeve, making him sensitive. Felix was fiercely loyal and the best person to handle in any type of emotional situation when on missions. His optimistic personality brought even the most unmanageable people out of their negative thoughts. He can change a person’s life, and all he has to do is be himself. his presence is very soothing. But being emotionally open to others makes him emotionally vulnerable in general. Its just how his personality works. Woojin always worried that someone might one day take advantage of felix because of his tendency to be open minded and trusting. Minho always joked that felix would need someone completely opposite of him to deal with him. being so emotional can become tiring to the wrong kind of people, and the last thing everyone wanted was felix to feel bad about himself and try to change himself so that he wouldn’t annoy others. Woojin and minho and later hyunjin and now jeongin, made sure to shield felix from that side of reality.

Felix knows about this and appreciates each one of them. And in turn, he was always the best person to go to if any of them were ever feeling depressed or upset about something.

So minho knows by now that the best way to deal with felix’s emotions, was to talk him through it.

With a soft melodic voice he asked, “tell me about him. maybe it will make you feel better. I honestly didn’t think you liked him this much. I mean, you practically cried and threw a tantrum when you were assigned to him.” minho sat up and kicked his legs to the floor. “what changed?”

Felix kept silent for a long moment, letting minho’s words linger in the air. Hyunjin and jeongin also kept quiet, not wanting to disturb the tense atmosphere. Even though minho directed his question to felix, it was really meant for all them.

What changed? When did it start? Why _them,_ those particular cherished?

Felix finally spoke up with a quivering breath. “I honestly don’t know when it happened. I liked teasing him and watching his emotions always change. At first, I was annoyed with him. then it turned to fascination. Then somehow, it became something more. I found myself wanting to see him every second of the day. I wanted to leave traces of myself so he would think of me more, hoping he missed me as much as I miss him whenever I had to leave for the day. I like his grumpy attitude, his anger, his passion for music and fighting. I love the way he laughs when one of the others say something funny, and I wanted to be the reason for that laugh. I love how loyal he is to the ones he loves, that even though jisung annoys the shit out of him and calls him at 5am in the morning about something stupid, he will still answer every single time. That right after hes done complaining about someone, he doesn’t hesitate to run to help them. I love his eyes and his smile, his beautiful lips. He has pretty hands and a gorgeous face. But even without all of that, I just love Seo Changbin.”

Felix started crying again, covering his face with his hands, somewhat relieved to just say it all out in the open. Minho looked at him sadly, his heart aching at the sight. He didn’t think felix was in that deep. He was too caught up in his own thoughts to ever notice during all these months away from them.

After felix calmed down again, he sniffled and looked up at minho.

“what about you minho hyung?”

Minho’s heart started beating faster at the question. He should’ve known felix would be the most attuned to how he’s really feeling.

“what do you mean?” he tried to play it off casually. Minho didn’t feel emotions. Nothing ever upset him. he didn’t get anxious, or afraid. He used to be made fun of when he was younger for being so cold and emotionless. It was only until later that he started to learn to express himself more. but that was just his arrogance and confidence coming out.

“about jisung. What do you miss?” felix clarified for him, determined.

Minho took a sharp breath in, aware of his teammates around him, waiting. He decided to play it safe.

“Ah, he was just like any of my other assignments. I'm a little sad but life goes on, ya know?” he shrugged nonchalantly at felix.

“then why do you look like you're going to cry, hyung?”

Minho looked at felix for several moments, the words ringing in his head.

His breathing stopped.

He’s been trying _so hard_ to keep himself together, to not crack. But you can only hold off a flood for so long before everything decides to break loose and come rushing out. is he that noticeable? Was he always that transparent?

“what do I miss?” he said in a small voice, looking at the floor and letting his long dark eyelashes brush against his cheeks.

“I miss his eyes. The way he looks at me, like there’s nobody else in the room except for _me_. I miss his voice, always yelling at me with his horrible temper. I miss his obnoxious dyed blonde hair. I miss running my fingers through it. I miss the sound his earrings make every time he tilts his head back to laugh. I miss his touch, burning my skin like fire. I miss holding him against me so badly, where I know he’s safe. Nobody else can match as well with me. Nobody else but him can fit perfectly with me.” Minho sucked in a breath, twisting one of his rings nervously on his finger as he muttered, “Nobody else ever will.”

Felix smiled, his eyes still watery and red. He leaned over and gently wiped the tears from minho’s cheeks that were silently falling as he finished talking.

“this is the first time ive ever seen you cry,” he whispered to the older boy.

Minho let him try and comfort him, then looked up with wide eyes. He might as well keep going, there’s no stopping him now.

“do you ever feel lonely? This sick, sinking feeling that makes you so sad? Like one minute you’re sitting there and everything is fine. but then suddenly it isn’t, and you just want to cry and curl in on yourself, but you cant because you feel guilty for being so weak? And you just need someone to be there, but not just _anyone_. You want someone who thinks you're special, that one person you can call _yours_. You want them to hold you, and even if you are still feeling anxious it helps to know that they are there anchoring you from drowning in your own insecurities.”

Hyunjin leaned forward and intertwined their fingers, trying to calm minho down. it honestly scared him a little hearing minho voice everything he’s feeling.

Minho continued. “my heart. Felix, it hurts so much. I cant breathe and I feel like im choking. Ive never felt like this before and I don’t know what to do. how do I stop it?” he looked to felix with desperation. He was finally breaking.

Felix gave him a sad smile. “I feel the same way hyung. But I don’t want to stop it.”

Minho blinked at him in shock, hanging on his every word. “why? Why live through this pain?”

Felix looked thoughtful, glad that he asked. “because it’s a reminder. Suffering through this pain every single second is a constant reminder of _him_. of how much I love him, to know that it was real and is still real. I _want_ to break into a million pieces every time I think about him, and im taking each and every one of those pieces to the grave with me. I don’t want to forget the feeling of loving changbin so much that im falling apart without him.”

Hyunjin started sobbing, felix’s words heartbreakingly beautiful. How was he able to describe just how much he felt towards seungmin in just a few sentences? how was felix able to put his feelings into words for the rest of them to understand?

Jeongin felt helpless about his hyung’s suffering, and minho slumped against his seat, trying to take deep breaths. Jeongin noticed he looked lost and just so lonely. Who would have thought it would have taken a full 6 months for minho to finally allow himself to _feel_?

It was in that moment that jeongin made a decision. Even if he has to go against everything he stands for, what woojin and the others stood for, he will do it for them. He knows he can get close enough to Park (he refuses to acknowledge him with the respectful formal title of ‘sir’ now) to get on his good side. He will become the perfect soldier in order to get access and permission to all of things regarding their cherished. And once he proves himself as a loyal daemon for Park, he will be able to get in contact again with the cherished without repercussions.  

***

Woojin fell to his couch, breathing heavily. Sweat matted his forehead and his eyes glazed over with fever. He was burning up and his limbs felt like jello.

He’s only got a few more hours.

He lied to felix, claiming it was about a month or two. He didn’t want to put unnecessary heartbreak and sadness on his little ones faces. He plans on just going quietly without a fuss, it was easier that way.

The others are going to be so pissed when they find out. he chuckled at the thought of it, his breath crackling in his failing lungs.

He let his head rest against the back of his couch hoping sitting up will help him breathe better. His thoughts wandered to all of the things he will be leaving behind, the people he loved, the life he lived. He smiled sadly, knowing he’s going to miss everyone. Especially one person in particular.

He’s only known chan for a few months, but in that small amount of time he felt the happiest he has ever been. Chan was a fascinating mystery that he wishes he had more time to solve. He purposely didn’t let himself get too attached knowing he wasn’t going to be around much longer.

But deep down, he knew what he felt was more than admiration or friendship for chan. He has never felt like this before with anyone else, and now that he was sitting here taking his last breaths, he finally is allowing himself to admit just how much he fell in love with chan.

He just wishes he could see those all-knowing eyes one last time. Watch as his mouth curves into a warm smile, showing off dimples that always melted woojin’s heart despite how frustrated he was at the light haired boy. he wants to feel chan’s touch. Woojin chuckled with a gasp at how silly chan was, always giving him soft caresses whenever he had the chance, as if woojin didn’t know what he was doing. Woojin let it happen because it always felt so nice. He loves watching chan hover over everyone, taking care of them in his own subtle ways. He admires how strong and selfless he is, and for some odd reason he wants to stand by chan’s side. He wants to be someone chan can call worthy and proud of knowing.

But most of all, just once he wants to know what it feels like to run his fingers through chan’s hair as he kisses him. instead of being breathless from dying, he wants to become breathless from chan’s lips.

It was a silly wish, woojin knows this. he closed his eyes and tried to fight the pain seeping through his body. If any of the others were here in this moment, they would tell him to quit being such a stick in the mud and go fulfill his one last wish. They would yell at him to quit thinking with his head and instead think with his heart. They would push him to get up one last time and go to chan, even if he doesn’t interact with him.

Woojin opened his eyes and glanced at the time. It was 3am in the morning. Too late for chan’s bakery to be open, and still too early for chan to open it.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, wincing in pain. His heart started racing, from overexertion or the thought of seeing chan one last time, he wasn’t sure.

Should he go? Even if there was a high possibility of not seeing him?

He asked himself, what would felix, or minho, or hyunjin do? felix would definitely go, and hyunjin. Minho was iffy, but would probably give in eventually. He was selfish like that.

He guesses he had his answer all along.

With the last little bit of strength he had left, he lifted himself from his couch and made his way out of his apartment slowly. It was the same apartment he got when he first was assigned to chan. He didn’t have the heart to get rid of it. he knows it was risky, but it was the last thing that he had to remind him of his time with chan and the others. Besides, he will be gone in a few hours anyways. Hes thankful for at least that, saving him from a headache of arguments he would have had with Sir Park if their boss found out.

with determination in his eyes and grabbing his side to lessen the pain, he made the short way to chan’s bakery.

___

Woojin picked the lock to the dark bakery, not even bothering to make sure no one could see him. who would be out at almost 4 in the morning anyways?

He walked in, shaking his head slightly at how easy it was to break in. chan really needed to get an alarm system for the place. Despite him dying, woojin still worried about chan in his last moments.

He took the place in, even though it was dark. not much has changed in six months, except for the decorations. Chan always liked to decorate according to the season. Spring was the last season woojin saw him in, and now it was autumn. Instead of pink and white flowers, the place had reds and oranges. Woojin imagined it would look beautiful in the soft glow of the setting sun.

He smiled fondly. Everything chan touches becomes beautiful. That was his special gift. Not his gift of being cherished. Just, his gift of being _chan_.

Woojin’s breathing became even more labored. He stumbled to the familiar counter, tripping on his own feet. he was too weak to even bother catching himself as he hit the floor with a thud. walking all the way to the bakery took its toll on him.

He guesses his time was up a lot quicker than he thought. He layed there on his side on the cold floor behind the counter, not even able to cry or make a noise. His organs were shutting down, starting from the unimportant ones to eventually the most important.

He wishes he could see chan, but dying in the place where they shared the most memories together was second best. Around him everything reminded him of chan, and he felt an odd sense of content. He closed his eyes, hoping the pain would go away soon.

After what felt like forever, woojin finally started to let himself succumb to the dark.

But then before he decided to give in and vanish into thin air without a trace left behind, the lights switched on.

Woojin blinked lazily, only taking a few breaths a minute. It was too painful to take anymore than that.

Chan stepped into his bakery, taking a look around. he got a feeling that he needed to come to work extra early today.

As he walked through his place, he noticed a figure lying on the floor behind the counter, out of sight. Chan slowly stepped closer and peered down at the dark haired boy on his floor.

His breath hitched once he got a good look at his face. The boy blinked up at chan with a glazed look in his bright amber eyes. Chan studied him for another moment, and then rushed over to woojin, immediately taking action.

He could see his aura dim to nothing, blinking in and out. this boy was dying, and he only has minutes to live.

Chan knelt to the ground on his knees, carefully pushing some of woojin’s damp bangs off his forehead. Woojin closed his eyes with a sigh.

“what happened to you, mate? You look like hell.”

Woojin looked to chan and smiled weakly. “im just a bit tired. I should’ve taken some of that tea again last time you offered it,” he rasped out.

Chan frowned, “I don’t appreciate you lying to me.”

Woojin chuckled, “you got me there. I could never get anything past you,” and then he coughed up some blood. His ears started ringing and then blood slowly trickled from them.

Chan carefully maneuvered woojin to a sitting position so that he wouldn’t choke on his own blood. Then he leaned the boy against his chest, securing him with his arms to help keep him upright.

“you’re dying aren’t you?”

Woojin nodded, slumping back against chan’s chest helplessly. He closed his eyes. Even when chan couldn’t remember him, he still helped a random stranger without question. Another thing woojin admired about him.

Chan was quiet for a few moments, debating his next words so that he wouldn’t freak the dark haired boy out into a heart attack. He was just so _fragile_ , and it broke chan’s heart for some reason.

“were you ever going to tell me that you were dying?” he asked.

Woojin shook his head.

Chan bit his lip, another feeling coming to him.

“I can save you. If you want.” He whispered near woojin’s ear.

Woojin’s eyes snapped open and widened in shock. “how…?” but he started coughing and couldn’t finish his question.

Chan chuckled bitterly. “you of all people should know by now that I can know things I shouldn’t. it wasn’t hard to figure out who you were. You are like us, but not. you don’t have much of an aura now, meaning you’ve been dying for some time.”

Chan cradled woojin closer to him, tracing his fingers up and down his tan arms to soothe him. “was I always this close to you?” he whispered to woojin. “I must have been. You must be the important person I forgot.”

Again woojin was surprised. “how did you know you forgot about me?”

Chan pressed a soft kiss to woojin’s temple without much thought. “I left traces of my aura all over you. It’s the only thing keeping you here with me right now. I don’t just do that to anybody, you know.”

Woojin furrowed his brows in confusion. He tried to lift his head to look at chan over his shoulder, but couldn’t move. “you left your aura on me? What does that even mean?”

Chan tightened his hold on woojin. “everybody leaves a piece of themselves behind without even knowing it. I can see their auras on the places that left the most impact on them. Well, I can do that too, just to a greater degree.” Chan nuzzled his head into woojin’s, sighing in content. “I must have did it to you at some point. Every single time I touched you, I left a piece of myself behind. My aura hugged onto your body like a second skin. It was my own way of marking what was mine.” Chan laughed softly, and woojin could feel the vibrations through his back. “im sometimes possessive with the people I care about.” He linked their fingers together across woojin's stomach. “I must have been especially possessive of you,” he muttered.

Then he continued, “auras are fickle things. if a person’s aura starts to get dim and weak, that means they are dying. Right before a person dies, they don’t have an aura at all. Yours is pretty much gone, but mine is still lingering on you. Its barely there, but its been keeping you from dying right away.”

Woojin sat there, awed by this cherished and his abilities. “you mean to tell me you have been inadvertently prolonging my life all this time? I always wondered why I was able to live this long. I should’ve died back in April, when I turned 25. But for some reason I just considered myself lucky being able to live months past my birthday.”

Chan pouted, even though woojin couldn’t see it. “I missed your birthday?”

“that’s really not the point.” Woojin wheezed out a laugh.

It was quiet for a moment, woojin finally shutting his eyes again, happy he was going to die in chan’s arms.

“will you let me save you?” chan interrupted his last moments of peace.

“dammit chan, ive literally been trying to die now like three times in the span of 40 minutes and-"

Chan grabbed woojin’s chin and gently turned his head so that he was side glancing him to see how serious he was.

“Let me save you.”

“why would you do that for me? Someone you have long forgotten,” woojin spluttered.

Chan let go of his chin and stroked his damp hair softly, letting woojin lean his head back against his shoulder. “you are supposed to protect me, are you not? cant do that if you're dead.”

Woojin chuckled, coughing up more blood and getting a little bit on chan’s shirt. He turned his head into the crook of chan’s neck and breathed in a deep breath, loving the way he smelled. His fever was still raging, but he barely noticed.

“they will replace me. You will be perfectly protected once im gone.”

Chan made a whining sound. “what if I don’t want you replaced? I chose you after all.”

Woojin snorted. “should’ve known it wasn’t an accident when you offered me the job all of those months ago.”

“I remember that day. Only a little bit, but I remember. I saw you, and had this feeling. I knew you were mine, born just for me.” He softly kissed woojin’s head before continuing. “my grandmother, she told me I must keep this bakery at all costs. I always wondered why, and I promised her on her deathbed. I desperately worked underground as a producer and composer, selling my music so that I could pay off the bakery and we could keep it. I think she knew someone very important was going to walk through my doors of this place. I didn’t know who you were exactly, but I got a feeling that if I didn’t ask you to stay here with me I would regret it for the rest of my life.”

Woojin stayed silent, coughing again.

“are you okay with being with me for the rest of my life?” chan whispered on a shaky breath, almost scared of woojin’s answer.

Woojin tried to shift and stare up at this incredible person before him. he honestly doesn’t remember what his life was like before he crossed paths with chan. His heart raced at what chan was implying with his offer to save his life. he smiled the most genuine smile he could muster while dying. “I would love to serve you for the rest of our time,” he whispered.

Chan gave him a huge grin, showing the dimples he loved so much. “good, because it would have been really awkward carrying this pastry knife around with me all day. again, another feeling.”

Then he sliced his hand and held his bleeding palm up for woojin. Once woojin kissed it, chan grabbed the hand that was intertwined with woojin’s still, and cut woojin’s palm. He brought it to his lips, gently kissing it. chan couldn’t see, but woojin’s eyes started glowing a bright golden, his own a vibrant red.

His head started swimming, and he leaned his forehead against woojin for a minute. Memories he long forgot started tumbling back to him, and he needed a moment to sort it all out.

Meanwhile, woojin was practically coming back from the dead, keeping silent as he let chan’s blood run through his veins healing him from the inside out.

After several minutes of silence, chan finally breathed in a deep breath, clinging on to woojin even more now that he knows just how much he means to him.

“woojin,” he exhaled on the breath he was holding.

Woojin stiffened at the sound of his name coming off of chan’s lips. He could feel a burning sensation on the side of his neck, his heart hammering at being called by his cherished.

“woojin. Woojinnie. Finally I have you back with me,” chan sighed, nuzzling his face in the back of woojin’s neck, placing soft kisses across his warm skin. Chan felt a tingling pricking sensation on the inside of his right wrist, but he paid it no mind.

Woojin felt like crying each time chan said his name. he didn’t think he would get to be with chan like this ever again in his lifetime.

Finally he was able to fulfill his dying wish.

He shifted in chan’s hold so that they were face to face, just centimeters apart. Chan’s eyes were still glowing a beautiful wine red, woojin’s amber ones reflected in them. He cupped chan’s face, needing answers first.

“chan, please tell me. How are you able to know all of these things? what are these feelings you get?”

Chan grinned at him again with his dimples, making woojin become momentarily distracted as he glanced down at chan’s lips.

“you are the first and only person im telling this to. My grandmother was a cherished, it runs in the family.” At this, woojin nodded for him to continue. “but she couldn’t see auras like I can. She was a clairvoyant. One of the only ones in the entire cherished race.”

Woojin sucked in a breath, running his thumbs across chan’s cheeks. He has never met a cherished with the gift of clairvoyance. It was rumored to just be a myth. So many times their boss searched for a clairvoyant, following lead after lead, only to turn up empty. Many people claim to be clairvoyants, but they never were _true_ clairvoyants. Clairvoyance was one of the greatest gifts god bestowed on a select few humans when he blessed them. If there ever was a hierarchy in the cherished race, clairvoyants were surely at the top as their rulers. Their powers were just so strong, there was never a limit to what they can do. they dated back thousands of years, and were even recorded in the bible as ‘prophets.’ But they were said to be either extinct, in hiding, or not real at all.

Woojin instantly went into protective mode, bringing chan closer to him in panic. “they cant find you,” he breathed against chan’s lips. “they can never find you. If they know what you can do, they will surely take you away from me. I swear I will protect you with everything I have.” He let his one hand slide down from chan’s face to the crook of his neck. He held chan tight, looking into his eyes.

Chan chuckled, loving the protectiveness woojin was displaying. He let his own hands roam down to woojin’s waist so that he could bring woojin impossibly close.

“you don’t have to worry so much. I'm not a true clairvoyant like my grandmother. I'm only half clairvoyant. My other half, the more dominant part of my gifts, is aura reading. As you know, I can read and manipulate auras quite well. That’s like a second part of me. My clairvoyance is very limited, and mostly it just comes in the forms of ‘feelings.’ Other than that, im pretty useless in that department,” he shrugged nonchalantly.

Woojin relaxed a little, but still was worried. “even so, you are even more rare now. Its unheard of for a cherished to have _two_ gifts in them. That’s still cause for them to take you away from me.”

Chan frowned, not thinking of that. “besides my grandmother, you are the only one that knows now. My life is in your hands if you ever decide to tell anyone else about me.”

“I would never,” woojin vowed, making chan smile and lean into woojin’s face. “I’m anchored to you now. My life has become yours, quite literally. I have to serve you for the rest of my life, doing anything you ask of me without question.”

A sneaky smirk made its way onto chan’s lips, and a playful glint to his eyes. “anything, you say?” he muttered, letting his breath fan across woojin’s face with how close they were. Woojin weakly nodded, instantly regretting his choice of words.

“then as my first order, you have to kiss me.”

Woojin scoffed, “that’s it? jokes on you, cause I was going to do that anyways.”

Chan pecked his lips really fast. “I know, I just liked the sound of ordering you around. im definitely going to be using that later in our bed.” He gripped woojin’s waist tighter, just to remind himself that woojin isn’t going anywhere anymore. he was still kind of upset that his memories were erased and woojin and the others disappeared for so long. but that was something they could talk about later, now that they have all of the time in the world.

“ _our_ bed?” woojin squeaked.

“mmm hmm” chan hummed, closing his eyes and waiting.

Woojin chuckled, leaning in and finally pressing his lips against chan’s, melting into the touch. Chan wasted no time kissing back and practically whimpered at the feeling of woojin brushing his fingers through his hair to grip the back of his neck. Woojin couldn’t get enough of chan’s lips, finally letting go of all precaution. This is everything he’s ever wanted, being here and desperately kissing chan until he was breathless. He let out a small whine when chan broke the kiss to move his lips down woojin’s jawline, licking a stripe further down the side of his neck. Woojin moaned as chan bit and sucked, surely leaving a mark.

And then chan stopped suddenly, leaning away while still looking at woojin’s neck.

“hey woojinnie?”

“hmm? Why’d you stop?” woojin complained, opening his eyes.

Chan flicked his own eyes up at woojin and then back down to the side of woojin’s neck where he was marking it with his mouth just moments ago.

“I love your tattoo.”

Woojin blinked at him, confused. “Huh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Nothing breaks like a heart" by mark ronson feat miley cyrus
> 
> in case anyone asks, 'Sir Park' is a made up character. he is no way related to anyone with the last name of Park in the kpop world lmaoo i could never do that to my loves


	17. The Heart Wants What It Wants

Jisung lay in his bed on his side, playing with the earring in his ear.

Seungmin once asked him where he got the new earring, saying it looked good on him. jisung just blinked up at him, confused. He brought his fingers up to gently graze the earring, and gasped.

He saw something very confusing, and his heart started racing.

Playing if off, he told seungmin he doesn’t remember where he got it, and said maybe from a flea market or something.

Now, six months later, he is still confused about what he can see when he touches the delicate piece of jewelry. He decided not to tell anyone about this, even chan. They would all think he was cracking up anyways. But every so often, at night, he would bring his fingers up to gently touch the earring, and watch the images play out before him in his mind.

At first he saw a burning field and an emotionless boy holding his mother’s dying hand. that’s not uncommon for jisung to see, especially if the earring was an antique. What really scared jisung was the object’s most recent important memories.

This delicate silver earring that was dangling in his ear showed jisung memories of… _himself_. it was as if jisung was watching himself through another person’s eyes. But they were of times jisung doesn’t remember happening, and he trembled thinking about what that could mean.

Chan’s words have been ringing in his head for a few days now.

_I can see it, echoes of someone left behind. Someone important._

But jisung’s been able to see it since the beginning. He just never knew what it meant.

Jisung turned on his other side, facing the wall with a blank stare. He brought his hand up to the earring, undoing it and cradling it in his palm. His eyes shone a wine red in the darkness of his room, and once again, for what seemed like the millionth time, he watched the memories that were engraved in this small object play out in his mind.

_He saw a burning field and an emotionless boy holding his mother’s dying hand. he saw the boy hold the earring as he walked away, never once glancing back._

The memories switched to the most recent ones at a fast pace.

_He saw himself, through the eyes of someone unknown. There was jisung, in the doorway of an apartment, glaring and looking like he just woke up, his hair a mess and his long sleeved tshirt hanging off one shoulder exposing his collarbone._

_Then he watched himself open up his door, looking annoyed. He was wearing a large towel around his waist, his blonde hair wet and even messier than before._

_He saw himself pressed against a door, looking into this person’s eyes with such want. He licked his lips out of habit, his breathing becoming erratic._

_He saw himself in a dark living room, leaning over a couch frozen in his spot. His eyes were glowing bright red and his hand was extended out between this person’s cheek and neck. Once he was back in the present, he saw himself look down at this person with such sadness._

Once again, the memories switched rapidly.

_He saw himself cramped in a dark closet, straddling someone as he buried his head into the crook of their neck and gripping on their shirt in fear. In that moment, whoever was holding him so closely was feeling protective, possessive, like they were ready to destroy anyone who wanted to harm jisung. But what he felt the most was fear. Fear for jisung. The emotions were so strong that jisung could feel it through the object._

_He saw himself in a bathtub, with nothing but his boxers on as he sat in the lap of the same person. Their bodies were pressed together, jisung running his fingertips over their soft skin. He saw himself looking disheveled, his hair wet and messy and his face blushing a bright red. He could tell this person was feeling grateful, adoration, attraction._

_He saw himself, lying on a bed with his hair splayed around him. he was sleeping, his eyes closed and sunlight filtering in on his face through a window. His shirt was bunched up by his neck for some reason. The owner of the earring must have been hovering above him, looking down at jisung for a long time. He felt echoes of affection, fondness, intimacy. The person brought their hand up and gently brushed jisung’s bangs out of his eyes. Then they traced their fingers down the side of his face, from his temple to under his jaw, and then over his lips, finally moving over his bunched up shirt across his chest and down his waist. In that moment, this person wanted to kiss jisung so badly._

_He saw himself lying under this person, his eyes glazed over in lust, his hair was a mess on the sheets, his chest heaving with small pants of breath._

In every single memory, this person was looking at jisung like he was the most beautiful thing in the world. It was so intense jisung couldn’t breathe. His heart pounded out of his chest and he felt dizzy.

His eyes changed from their wine red color to their soft brown again as he returned to the present. His room was still dark, and he was still laying on his side. Tears started flowing across his cheek and nose, seeping into the sheets.

Who was this person that looked at jisung with such love? How come this earring holds memories of himself that he cant remember? Why was he crying over something he cant recall?

It was no accident that jisung had this earring. This person must have given it to him, knowing about his gifts.

Jisung scoffed. A lot of good this did. all he was able to see was a million images of himself. all he could do was clutch onto this earring and watch a mirage of himself falling in love with someone he cant remember.

Yes, that’s right. He wasn’t blind. As time passed through the object’s memories, he could sense that jisung changed, from annoyance and dislike to eventually such an intense love that anybody could see it across his face.

So why was he sitting here alone?

Why did that person go away? Was he not good enough? Too annoying? Not worth it? why does everybody always end up leaving him?

Jisung closed his fist around the earring and hugged his blanket while burying his wet cheeks into his pillow next to him, wishing it was instead whoever used to look at jisung like he was something precious, something special…

Something to be _cherished._

***

“hey channie? Do you know of any fields near a mountain that caught fire in the past?” jisung randomly asks one day, sitting at a table and watching chan busy himself with changing the decorations. Its winter finally, and he was replacing the autumn leaves he had hung up around the place with soft white lights and fake snowflakes.

Chan paused in what he was doing, turning to look at jisung.

“and why exactly would you want to know about a field?”

Jisung shrugged, “sometimes I like to scroll through Google Earth when I get bored.”

Changbin snorted, sitting in a corner, typing on his computer. He was working on new lyrics for a song in his down time. He changed the hours to his store. he didn’t feel like staying there by himself as often anymore, so he was closed more days than open until further notice.

Seungmin tapped his pen against his cheek. “I think I heard about that once. I used to bounce from family to family, and one of them lived near a village at the base of a mountain.”

Jisung perked up. “really?! Seriously?”

Seungmin nodded. “yeah, everybody in the small town I stayed in avoided that village like the plague. At least, what was left of it.”

Changbin pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, looking up in interest. “so what happened to the village?”

Chan stopped what he was doing and listened.

“hmm, im not really sure. All I know is that a long time ago, well not that long ago, but long enough that we were just small kids at the time, the village mysteriously caught fire. It killed every single villager, the fire even spread up the mountain and burned the surrounding area. Not a single person survived.”

“I didn’t hear anything about that in the news,” changbin noted. Jisung nodded in agreement.

Seungmin shrugged. “there was no reason for it to be in the news for long. Apparently it was a very dry summer that year. The fire somehow started and spread. The people were unfortunate enough to not be able to escape, and it was too strong to put out with the limited water supply they had. All of the authorities dismissed it as a sad incident by mother nature.”

Jisung frowned. That didn’t seem right. If it was the same field from the earring’s memories, then there should have been screaming and killing. And there were obviously survivors if that little boy walking away with that man was any indication. Something definitely didn’t add up.

“where was this village?” jisung asked.

“why do you want to know?” chan inquired, watching jisung carefully.

Jisung shrugged again, playing it off. “I just saw something about it on the internet and was curious. You know how bored I get on social media.” He almost cringed at the pathetic lie, but still prayed that chan wouldn’t question it further.

Seungmin took a sip of his milk tea in thought. He knows jisung better than anyone. If jisung was curious about something, he would stop at nothing to get his answers. He will ask jisung about it later. “let me think about this. I was maybe 12? 13? when I stayed at the nearby town. That was over ten years ago. I think it was maybe 20 or 30 miles north of here?”

Jisung’s heart raced. Could it be the same field that he saw?

“who cares? Whatever happened there is long over with now. They should just get over the incident and rebuild the village or whatever,” changbin said, already losing interest. He went back to typing at his laptop.

“I know, I know. I was just wondering,” jisung waved him off.

Chan watched jisung, knowing that look. If anything, jisung has a strong reason to visit that place. He can sense it. he made a note to ask woojin about it later.

So far, the others know absolutely nothing of their memories from before, except for chan. Woojin begged him to not say anything to them, claiming it was too dangerous. Chan agreed after hearing the whole story. He was no longer upset with getting his memories wiped out, understanding why woojin did it. it was too dangerous for everyone to remember.

Woojin is presumably dead in the daemon world. Minho and the others think he just vanished quietly into air like he was supposed to. It made woojin extremely upset to hear how they all reacted. He spent the night crying in chan’s arms, sad that he had to trick them, but knowing it was for the best. The less that people know, the safer he and chan are. He broke every single rule set in his universe by drinking chan’s blood and living again.

Chan sat there, running his hands up and down woojin’s back, drying his tears and whispering softly how they would fix all of this. to just be patient and wait. Everything will be as its supposed to.

Woojin asked how, and chan just smiled, claiming he had a feeling. But they need to wait and not overreact. Woojin nodded in the dark, threading his fingers with chan’s and leaning up to kiss him on the lips.

Its been weeks since woojin has been hiding out in chan’s apartment without contact with the outside world. He was uneasy letting chan roam free by himself, now that he knows just how precious chan is as a cherished. At any given moment someone could come after him. but chan assured him he would know when something is going to happen, and he would call woojin’s name if it ever came down to that. each morning before he left their bed, he would give woojin a long drawn out kiss in the hopes it would ease woojin’s anxiety just a little bit for that day.

___

Chan crawled into his bed that night, snuggling up to woojin who was typing on a computer. Woojin smiled down at him, closing the laptop and setting it aside.

Chan stared blankly, deep in thought. Woojin pushed some of his bangs off his forehead, tracing his fingers across his cheek. “what are you thinking about?” he muttered quietly in the darkening room.

Chan blinked, turning his head and kissing woojin’s hand. “I think the others remember.”

Woojin stilled, looking at chan. “what do you mean? Remember what?”

“minho and the rest of you. I think they remember. Not like their memories came back or anything, but just bits and pieces, _feelings_. It was like that for the six months you guys were gone.”

Woojin slid down so that he was lying next to chan, face to face. He wrapped an arm around his waist dragging him closer under the covers. They never really talked about the time they were apart. It was torture for both of them.

But in the darkness of the room from the setting sun, woojin thinks he finally wants to hear about their lost time together. “tell me about it. the six months we were gone,” he whispered.

Chan took a breath, intertwining his fingers with woojin’s for comfort. “nothing much happened in those months. But each day felt weird for me. I had headaches, and an ache in my chest. I knew something wasn’t right.”

He pushed woojin onto his back and shifted so that both of his hands were on either side of woojin’s head and he was hovering over the dark haired male. He looked deep into woojin’s eyes, and slowly lowered himself on top of woojin, resting his head on his chest. Woojin didn’t mind chan’s full weight on him, he was super strong after all. He wrapped his arms around chan, caging him to his body.

Chan listened to woojin’s steady heart beat, a reassurance that he was still alive and with him for eternity now. Once he was comfortable against woojin, he continued. “I knew I was missing someone in my life. I saw your aura all over my things, my place. I tried so hard to remember. Everyday I waited for you to just walk through my doors again, but you never came. I was so lonely I felt like crying. Going to bed was never the same. You guys may have erased our memories from our minds, but you could never take them away from our hearts.”

Woojin looked up at the ceiling with watery eyes, listening to chan.

“I cant be the only one who felt the same way all of those months. I can see it in jisung and the others. Seungmin started ordering hyunjin’s favorite milk tea with extra milk. Jisung is wearing minho’s earring, absently playing with it throughout the day without even noticing. Changbin once told me he freaked out because he thought he had to water plants that he didn’t have. At the time, I didn’t have my memories back and had no idea why he was so shaken up by it, but now I know he was remembering felix.” Chan sniffled, burying his face into woojin’s shirt. “they have been remembering all this time, and don’t even realize it. it hurts to see them so lost and lonely like I was. Why does it have to be like this? why cant we be with you guys like we want? Its just not fair.”

Woojin absently started playing with chan’s hair to calm him. “trust me. I'm just as angry as you are. How do you think we felt, going through all of those months having to remember? Watching you guys go on with your day like we meant nothing at all? Hyunjin was devastated. He didn’t talk to us for a whole month. Felix was always crying. Minho reverted back to his cold and emotionless self. Only jeongin really kept it together.”

Chan looked up at woojin, “and you? How did you handle it?”

Woojin frowned. He brought his hands up to cup chan’s face and kissed him harshly, bruising chan’s lips. When he broke the kiss, chan leaned his forehead against woojin’s. he kissed woojin back, gently this time and for much longer.

“I take it not so well?” chan chuckled.

“I missed you so damn much,” woojin whispered, breathing heavily.

“me too. I missed you too, even if I didn’t know it. when I saw you lying there, barely alive on my floor I knew you were the one I was looking for this whole time.” He nuzzled his face into the crook of woojin’s neck, placing a soft kiss against his tattoo.

After some moments of silence, woojin was about to drift off to sleep. Then chan spoke up again.

“jisung said something weird today. He mentioned a field that caught on fire? Apparently a whole village was killed off because of it.”

Woojin snapped his eyes open. “what did you say?”

Chan looked up at him again. “jisung wants to know about a field that caught fire,” he repeated.

Woojin brought his hand up from around chan’s waist and ran it through his hair. “this cant be a coincidence. Minho’s home village was destroyed when he was young. Its how we found him. his entire people were hunted and killed for breaking our laws, although im not sure what it was they did and minho was too young to remember. They were daemons and cherished like us. The entire place was burned to the ground. How in the hell jisung knows about this is beyond me.”

A thought occurred to chan. Then he chuckled and laughed. “his psychometry,” he said simply.

Woojin replaced his hand back on chan, absently running his fingers up and down chan’s back. “his ability to read an object’s memories and emotions? I don’t see how that would help, he would need something from the time that the fire and killing occurred…”

He stilled once he realized what probably happened. “dammit minho. He’s too smart for his own good. You said jisung was absently playing with minho’s earring?”

Chan nodded, catching on. “that little shit has had some of minho’s memories this whole time and didn’t say anything. Granted, I don’t know what he was able to see, and if he even knew _what_ he was seeing. But it means he at least caught on moreso than the others. Just like how I did with your aura.”

“as soon as I see minho again, im going to wring that little brat’s neck with my bare hands. There’s no way it was some accident that he happened to ‘forget’ that jisung has the gift of psychometry. Honestly, the both of them are an extreme handful,” woojin sighed, relaxing into the bed again.

Chan melted into woojin again, clinging to his shirt with a smile on his face. “true, but they are _our_ handful. I hope jisung gets some of his memories back. I miss everybody laughing and bickering together. I just want things to go back to how they used to be.”

Woojin smiled sadly, going back to playing with chan’s hair, lulling him to sleep. “me too.”

***

Jisung looked at seungmin’s sloppily drawn map and his app on his phone, and then looked back up at the snowy trail into the woods in front of him. after two more weeks of searching on the internet and calling up random traveling agencies, he thinks he finally managed to find the field on the mountain from the earring’s memories.

He took a bus for hours, and even was desperate enough to ask seungmin for a shitty map of the town he stayed in with one of his foster families. Seungmin insisted on going with him, but he was called into the hospital on an emergency call. He might even have to stay the whole night.

Jisung didn’t want to waste time, excitement coursing through his body at the possibility of finally getting some answers. So he left without telling seungmin or anyone else.

Now, jisung is not an idiot, he knows he wont be able to meet the person that owned this earring. But if he could just find an object to get his hands on then he might be able to piece the puzzle together a little better.

The sun was setting after spending most of his day traveling, and then wandering through the nearby town until someone was able to tell him which direction this mountain was in. most of the townspeople looked at him like he was insane for asking about the village. But jisung just lied and said he was a journalist who was interested in writing stories on local history. Not the best of lies, but it was believable and people stopped asking him questions.

He looked ahead of him up the mountain and sighed. The field he was looking for shouldn’t be too far up, but it was still a hike. Especially since nobody has kept the trail in good condition for almost 20 years.

He stretched his muscles, ready for the trek he was going to begin. if he hurries he can make it back down before it gets too dark. he imagines he has maybe four hours until sundown? That should be plenty of time.

Tightening the shoulder straps to his backpack, he headed up into the forest without looking back, not noticing the watchful eyes following his every move.

***

Chan was humming at his kitchen sink, making some tea for him and woojin. He looked out the window, watching the sun start to set. Woojin was sitting at his kitchen table, admiring chan’s back like a creep.

Chan finished the steaming mugs and turned, facing woojin with a smile.

Woojin watched as chan went from smiling to frowning. His eyes gleamed red and then he dropped the mugs, letting them slip through his fingers and sending them crashing to the ground. They shattered, spilling hot tea all over the floor and a little on chan’s socks.

Woojin yelped slightly and ran to help chan. Chan stood frozen in his spot, his eyes still red. Then he gasped and looked to woojin with fear as his eyes dimmed back to their normal brown.

“what happened? Whats wrong? Are you okay? Don’t move,” woojin started checking chan all over, then bent down to start picking up the shards of glass so that chan wouldn’t accidentally step on it and cut himself.

“jisung,” he whispered, rubbing his face in distress.

“what about jisung?” woojin muttered as he continued cleaning up the mess.

“I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling. Like a really bad one. Something is going to happen to jisung, and he’s almost 50 miles away! I cant get to him in time, that’s at least a 2 hour bus ride, and then finding exactly where is he is near impossible. He must have went to go see minho’s hometown without telling any of us and-“

Woojin stood up, cupping chan’s face. “hey, hey. Its ok, its going to be ok. I need you to calm down for me.”

Chan nodded, leaning into woojin’s touch. “what are we going to do?”

Woojin pursed his lips, thinking frantically. “how much longer do we have?”

Chan shook his head, “im not sure. I don’t know.” He gripped his hair in frustration, for once wishing his gift wasn’t auras and that he was a full clairvoyant instead. “nightfall? I think? Not long.”

Woojin searched chan’s eyes, making a decision.

“if its minho’s home village, he knows exactly where jisung is. But that would risk them meeting, and there’s the slight problem of relaying this information to minho. I cant reveal myself to him, our boss watches him the most out of everyone else now since he’s the new leader of the team. And _you_ cant tell him because im not putting you in that kind of danger if they find out your memories returned.”

Chan whimpered, “woojin I don’t give a fuck about myself, we have to help jisung! I should’ve went with him. I should’ve watched him better. I should’ve-”

Woojin ran his hands up and down chan’s arms. “I know that. we will help jisung, we just need to be smart about this. even though you hate to admit it, its not your complete responsibility to take care of everyone 24/7. They live their own lives too chan.”

“we need to tell minho. He would be devastated if something happened to jisung, you know that,” chan whispered, fearing what minho would do if jisung was killed.

Woojin nodded, agreeing. “we cant reveal ourselves to minho, but we can tell jeongin who will relay the information to minho…”

Chan furrowed his brows, “jeongin? why would he be the safest to tell?”

“because our boss overlooks him, thinking he’s naïve and young. If anyone can go under the radar, he can. Wait here while I make a call. poor kid is going to have a heart attack of a lifetime when he hears that im not dead.”

Chan nodded, breathing a quivering sigh of relief. He twitched with nervous energy, the need to go and help out making him impatient. He looked over to the sun that was slowly slipping closer to the horizon, setting everything in a cold winter glow. Clouds were forming in the sky.

It was going to snow tonight.

***

Jisung puffed out a breath, the cold making his fingers feel numb. He’s been wandering around this snowy field for close to an hour now, finding not a single trace of what happened there so long ago. He was hoping he could find _something_.

It was dark out, and he knows he should head back down, but he was determined to at least get some answers. He walked over to where he set his backpack down in the snow and took a swig of water. He capped it and glanced around him.

_Well, this day was quite uneventful._

He took a few steps in the snow, gauging the position of the trees, trying to find the exact spot from the earring’s memories.

_It should be around here…_

He suddenly heard crunching in the snow, someone approaching him at a fast rate. He didn’t even have enough time to turn his head at the sound when he felt a sharp pain in his side and abdomen.

“what the…” he choked out, turning his legs abruptly, causing him to lose his footing and fall backwards in the snow.

He stayed like that for several minutes. Whoever attacked him was long gone, not bothering to stay long enough to see if the job was done. Jisung was in too much pain to comprehend why someone would want to hurt him and how they even knew he was here in the first place. Maybe it was someone trying to mug him? he didn’t even have the strength to lift his head to check on his backpack.

His cellphone was also in his backpack across the field. How cliché was that? just when he needed it the most.

He chuckled bitterly, but then whined in pain.

After what felt like forever, Jisung coughed, his breath fanning out in the cold mountain air. He tried to take another deep breath but couldn’t, his lungs constricting painfully and chest rising and falling at a rapid pace.

He was going to die, he already knows it. but still, some part of his brain refuses to accept this fact, forcing his body to continue working to keep him alive.

Jisung stayed lying on his back in the white snow with his arms and legs spread out, his blonde hair fanning around him. his own blood tainted the beautiful perfection that surrounds him. Dark crimson red splattered across a white background, almost like a child trying to finger paint for the first time.

Red continued to flow from the knife wounds in his stomach while white flakes softly landed on him like flower petals in the spring. Instead of watching the red bleed through the white, he forced his eyes to look up into the night sky. dark hues of purple, indigo, and violet clashed with the snowflakes, calming down his beating heart that was just barely fluttering in his chest.

He lets a single tear roll down his face from each of his eyes, the fleeting thought of wanting to stay alive overtaking what’s left of his consciousness.

Nobody is even here to see him take his last breath. He’s going to spend his last seconds here on this earth alone.

_He’s always been alone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The heart wants what it wants" by selena gomez


	18. Pray to God

_Remember, your life is no longer your own. From the moment you were born, you were fated to die. An endless cycle that can’t be broken._

_Your purpose was to protect them. A human shield is all you are worth. If you were ever to accomplish anything in your pitiful existence, it is to make sure they thrive. They are our future._

 

Minho stared down at the dying boy lying in the snow. He shouldn’t be here, he was banished from ever seeing jisung again.

Jisung stared up at him with half lidded eyes, struggling to breathe while blood continued to flow from his wounds. the slightest of smiles ghosted his lips before he shut his eyes completely.

Minho was angry.

He was angry at jisung for being a cherished one, being loved unconditionally by so many people without even having to try. He was angry at jisung for being something he could never be. He was angry at himself for once wishing he could be like _them_.

He was angry at his boss and everyone in the agency making him feel worthless and like his life meant nothing. He was angry that he couldn’t live longer like _they_ could, his life quickly disappearing on a small timeline. He’s only got a month left.

But most of all, he was angry at jisung for forgetting him.

For the first time in his life, someone paid attention to minho. jisung soothed the hurt and calmed the fears that he constantly forced himself to stomp down and ignore on a daily basis. The worry he had of how much time he had left. Jisung was the only one who would remember him when he was gone. But then his memories were forced to be erased, and minho was so _angry_ that jisung could just forget him in a matter of seconds while he’s forced to carry these memories with him alone. He knows he’s being unreasonable and irrational, but he can’t help it.

_Will anyone remember me when I’m gone? Would anyone care?_

Jisung’s heart started to slow at a dangerous pace, the sounds of his heart beats almost nonexistent. Minho started to panic, kneeling next to him in the snow. this isn’t how it should be, jisung was supposed to live on for many years after minho was gone. He was supposed to have a normal life, being safe and protected and _cherished_ ; find somebody to love and take care of him without a care in the world.

So why is he here, dying in front of minho?

It goes against all of the unspoken laws of the universe to mix blood with a cherished one, minho _knows_ that. he’s crazy for even thinking about this, but one look at jisung has him willing to try anything despite the consequences. Minho might be damned to hell or worse if he does this, but they would never hurt jisung because he was blessed.

If god truly loved all of his creations, then why did he punish minho and the others with this fate? Why was he born to give up his life for another? Isn’t his life his own to choose? Is there even a God out there?

Unable to take his eyes off of jisung, he made a decision. Forget about god, forget about the meaning of life and his existence. If he was going to be damned anyways he might as well make it worth it. and right now, saving jisung who was blessed and cherished, is worth more than making some spiritual being happy.

Jisung was the closest thing he has to God. If he was ever to bow down to another, if he was ever to give himself to a master, it would be jisung and only jisung. He’d give jisung his everything, and strangely that realization scared him in so many ways. Its not easy putting another person before yourself. Every piece of his meaningless existence can go to this stubborn blonde boy dying in the snow. This should make minho feel mad, this should make him feel pathetic and worthless. But for some reason, he was oddly at peace for once in his life.

Would jisung hate him once he finds out his precious blood was tainted by minho’s? It didn’t matter to minho, he only has a month left anyways. Jisung can hate him for it later, after he was alive and breathing.

_Oh wait, he doesn’t remember me._

With minho’s mind made up, he brought his wrist to his lips, biting down harshly. He gathered a small amount of blood, just enough to heal jisung and bring him back from the brink of death. He hovered over jisung’s lips, parting them slightly with his free hand. then without hesitation he kissed jisung, making this as quick as possible. He didn’t move until he knew jisung swallowed his blood, letting it heal him.

Once minho was sure jisung wouldn’t die, he started to move away. He had to leave before jisung completely came to his senses. As he shifted in the snow, his knees freezing cold from kneeling for so long next to jisung, he felt a hand grabbing at his shirt with a surprising amount of strength. He was then dragged back down and jisung kissed him again, reconnecting their lips desperately.

Minho should pull away, he knows it. he already has done enough damage costing him his entire existence. His freedom is in jisung’s hands now. But the feel of jisung’s lips against his is too much, too irresistible and he doesn’t care about anything else anymore.

Jisung swiped his tongue across minho’s bottom lip tasting him, making minho shiver, and it wasn’t because of the cold. Minho smirked into the kiss; jisung was always somewhat aggressive, nothing has changed even after all of these months apart. Minho complied to jisung’s silent wish and opened his lips for him. jisung wasted no time slipping his tongue in and gripping minho’s hair with both of his hands.

Minho was still kneeling and hovering over jisung, causing him to balance himself with his hand on the other side of jisung’s head. The cold snow started to make his fingertips go numb, but he was too caught up in the moment to notice his discomfort. Jisung slightly tugged minho’s hair, keeping his head still as jisung tilted his own and deepened the kiss. Minho happily reciprocated, moving his lips harshly with jisung’s, bruising them from his desperation to get closer after being away for so long. Even from the beginning when they first met, there was never anything gentle between the attraction they felt for each other.

Minho finally started to feel his lungs burning, the need for air too great. He reluctantly pulled away, smiling softly as jisung tried to chase after his lips in protest, not even close to being done. But jisung was still recovering, minho’s blood slowly working its way through his body trying to heal him cell by cell. Minho is surprised it worked this fast. Jisung shouldn’t have been able to move for at least an hour after receiving it, but it worked within seconds.

Minho’s blood would only work in healing another person, especially a cherished one, if his feelings were of a pure intention. He has to give it away whole heartedly, and be willing to sacrifice everything.

For jisung, he would do anything.

If minho was born to do one thing in his life before he died, this would be it.

Still hovering over jisung and balancing on his one hand in the snow, he brought up his other and lightly caressed the side of jisung’s face, watching as the younger boy licked his lips in that annoyingly sexy habit of his. The cut on minho’s wrist was closed, but not healed. He can’t heal himself as quickly anymore, one of the first signs that his death was coming closer by the day.

After a few moments of watching jisung try and catch his breath, his lungs working again, minho stood up in the snow.

Looking down at jisung, he spoke up in a soft voice that carried slightly on the wind in the quiet snowy night.  

“Looks like we are stuck with each other for eternity now you insanely stubborn, super annoying, irritatingly nosy, breathtakingly beautiful, gorgeous piece of shit that ever crossed paths with me.” He ranted, not even knowing if jisung understood him. but there was slight fondness in his voice, and he was relieved that jisung will continue to live even after he was gone.

He should hate jisung for the way he feels. But he came to the conclusion that even if jisung wasn’t cherished, he would still lay down his life for him.

He chuckled bitterly to himself as he watched jisung sleeping peacefully in the snow. How funny. Jisung truly does have it all, without even trying.

Jisung was loved by him without even having to be blessed or cherished.

Minho looked up to the night sky, watching fat snowflakes slowly fall down around them. He didn’t know why jisung was up here in the place he most wanted to forget, and he doesn’t know who attacked him, but someone just hurt his cherished one when he was supposed to be safe, and he was extremely pissed.

Letting an ice cold anger wash over him, he silently left jisung in the snow to heal, knowing jeongin will take care of him. then he turned in the direction the attackers have come from.

Minho’s eyes glinted amber in the dark night, and then he left as silently as he came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Pray to God" by Calvin Harris ft HAIM


	19. Diamond Heart

“where’s minho?” Park asked jeongin. jeongin looked up from his papers he was sorting for his boss. He’s been his assistant for a couple of months now, slowly making his way up. If he’s lucky, he might be able to get promoted to becoming one of Park’s personal guard of daimons. Jeongin has practically worshiped the ground Park walks on, and it wasn’t all in vain. He hasn’t been able to get access to the files that hold information on each cherished, but he will soon.

Jeongin could feel an internal panic at the mention of minho. Right now minho is looking into who is targeting the cherished again, but without permission. he came back empty handed after saving jisung in the mountains a month ago.

___

Last month, Jeongin was busy in the basement of their agency storing boxes of files onto shelves when he got a call from an unknown number on his phone. He hesitantly answered it, and nearly dropped it at the voice that came from the other end.

“jeongin, I don’t have time to explain, and you must keep absolutely quiet. Please. jisung is in danger,” Woojin told him on the other line. Jeongin sobbed, then got mad that woojin was actually alive and never told any of them, he cursed woojin out for a good 10 seconds, and then he cried some more saying how much he missed and loved him. woojin reassured him he was alright, he would live for a long time now, and that chan had a feeling something bad was going to happen to jisung. He instructed jeongin to keep it secret from everyone at all costs, and to find minho and tell him jisung is in danger in the place he most wants to forget.

“but hyung…what do I tell minho? He’s going to ask how I know all of this. what do I say?” jeongin asked woojin.

Woojin was silent for a minute. “Just tell him there is no time to explain, and that jisung will die if he doesn’t leave right now.”

“consider it done,” and then jeongin hung up and ran to find minho.

He’s never seen minho so panicked before, running at an extreme speed. What would have taken 2 hours by bus, only took minho 30 minutes by foot. Jeongin has never seen someone of their kind run so fast. It should have been impossible. Jeongin couldn’t keep up, and told minho to go ahead of him.

Jeongin walked up to jisung lying in the snow. His wounds were healed, but the blood was still everywhere. Jeongin saw minho leaving in the distance, presumably going after whoever did this to his cherished. He carefully picked up jisung with ease and carried him back to chan and woojin’s apartment, this time taking the bus. He had to be creative by throwing a coat over the blood stains, but overall everything worked out fine. he managed to arrive before dawn, and luckily chan knew they were coming and was up waiting.

Once jeongin gently placed jisung down on chan’s couch, he turned and stared at woojin. Woojin gave him a small smile, and that’s when jeongin broke down. he ran into woojin’s waiting arms, and hit his chest half heartedly while sobbing, whining about how much he hates him and how could he do that to him. and how sad they all were to find out that woojin was never coming back, and how could he not even say goodbye. Woojin let him get it all out, rubbing his back and chuckling at the curse words jeongin was calling him.

Then jeongin switched his glare to chan, who merely stared at him with curiosity. Chan held out his arms too, and jeongin ran into them. He started round two of crying, thanking him for saving woojin and telling him how much he loves him. chan kissed the top of his head with a smile. All he said was that he would have done it months ago if woojin wasn’t being so stubborn.

After his little episode, jeongin reassured minho on the phone that jisung was taken care of. Minho told him he was going to be away for a few days while searching for clues as to who was targeting jisung again. He asked jeongin to try and find out anything he could from Park’s files.

When jeongin hung up, he frowned. Woojin walked to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “thank you innie for keeping my secret. Park watches minho too closely as the leader of our group. What I did with chan is unspoken of and could get all of you killed if he finds out you guys are involved with me. I was risking too much telling you, but jisung was dying and I had no other choice.”

Jeongin shook his head, hugging woojin again. “im glad you came to me hyung. Ive been trying to get closer to our boss so that I can get access to anything regarding the cherished. I'm so close. I would do anything for you guys.”

“we are lucky to have you,” chan said, fixing jisung’s blanket he draped across him.

Jeongin turned and looked at a peacefully sleeping jisung. Minho’s blood probably knocked him out, especially with all the healing his body is doing right now. He was out cold the entire way back to chan’s apartment, which took hours.

“he’s going to get his memories back,” woojin said in the quiet room. Jeongin widened his eyes, just now realizing that chan remembers everything about him.

“wh-what? How?” jeongin asked.

“our blood. It somehow heals _everything_ when we give it to our cherished. That includes the damage Ren did to their memories. Chan got most of his memories back instantly. The rest slowly trickled back over the next few days,” woojin explained.

“he’s going to remember minho?” jeongin asked with a quiet voice. Woojin nodded his head in confirmation.

Jeongin chuckled with relief. “hyung…jisung is going to be so pissed at minho now.”

Chan sat down on a nearby chair, grinning. “now _that’s_ a sight I would like to see.”

___

“Sorry Sir, minho hasn’t been feeling well the past few days. He’s at home resting, if you know what I mean,” jeongin covered for minho. He opened his doe eyes nice and wide for special effect. Technically, it wasn’t a lie. Jeongin could see the fatigue take over minho like it did with woojin.

Park’s expression softened. “Ah, it’s almost time for minho now, isn’t it? I should have expected this since woojin is gone too. We are going to be needing a new leader soon. Originally it should be hyunjin since he is the next oldest, but hyunjin has succumbed to his fate sooner than anticipated. And felix is too emotional and unstable to lead. That will leave you next.”

Jeongin widened his eyes at what his boss was implying. “but sir, are you sure?”

“you have been working with me for a few months now, and everything you do exceeds my expectations. I don’t see why you shouldn’t be allowed to form your own team.”

Jeongin pretended to look proud. Then he said, “sir. If you wouldn’t mind, I would like to stay here with you instead. I admire what you do for the cherished, and I want to protect you for as long as I have left.”

Park smiled and ruffled jeongin’s hair gently. “that is an honorable wish of yours. If you truly want that, then who am I to question your loyalty to me? I can have you start training to be in my personal guard next week, if you desire it.”

Jeongin smiled a wide smile. “oh thank you! I promise I wont let you down sir!” he bowed, gritting his teeth but keeping the smile in place.

***

Jisung tapped his fingers on seungmin’s hardwood table in agitation. He shifted in his seat and sighed.

To put this quite simply, jisung was extremely pissed.

One month! Minho came crashing back into jisung’s life one month ago, and he still hasn’t seen that bastard since the night he was attacked. Not once has minho ever come to visit him, or even give an explanation as to why he left.

He woke up on chan’s couch, blood spattered his shirt and there were rips where the knife wounds went through the material. But he was completely fine.

Chan explained to him briefly that someone attacked him in the field, and right before he died minho saved him. how he did that, jisung wasn’t sure. But when he returned to his apartment, expecting everything to be back to the way it was, he found that the place was still empty and cold next door.

He waited for minho to come back. Maybe he was on another mission, or maybe he was still being punished for when their leader came to take them away last year.

Jisung didn’t expect minho to come running back into his arms, but he thought that at least he would come to see him just one time.

He played with minho’s earring in his ear. He didn’t even have the chance to say thank you, or give back his earring. Oh how jisung wanted to chuck this earring down the drain for the way minho was treating him! and chan was of no help whatsoever. He wouldn’t explain anything to jisung, saying they were all in danger and it was best to keep quiet and let things play out on their own. Whatever that means.

But jisung trusts chan more than anything, and if chan wanted him to keep it a secret that their memories were erased and he somehow got his back, then he will listen to him and not say anything to seungmin and changbin.

For now, that is.

It was weird at first, realizing he forgot people who were once important to him for almost a year. The confusing days jisung used to have suddenly make sense again. He frowned at his best friend, upset that he couldn’t say anything to seungmin. he wanted to so badly. He wanted to tell seungmin that he knows what he is going through. That its not just a random feeling of loneliness that he is experiencing, that there once used to be someone who filled that void in him.

“whats wrong?” seungmin asked him, worry in his eyes. He could tell something has been bothering jisung for some time now, but he still waited for jisung to just come out and tell him already.

Jisung glanced away, deciding to look at the wall of seungmin’s kitchen instead. “nothing. im just mad.”

Seungmin put down his milk tea, raising a brow. “mad about what? As far as I know, nothing has happened at work to agitate you. Did changbin say something again about your lyrics?”

Jisung shook his head. “no, nothing like that. its just…well, you see,” he gulped, trying to find the right words. “I got this new neighbor. And he is so frustrating and annoying, and I cant stand him!”

Seungmin chuckled. “is that all? Just ignore him. im sure he will move on in a few months anyways,” and then he took another sip of his drink.

Jisung just stared at him and licked his lips. Even though minho wasn’t living there anymore, it still technically wasn’t a lie. He hates lying to seungmin. “yeah but what if…” but he didn’t finish that thought out loud.

_What if I don’t want him to leave me again?_

Seungmin sat up straight. “ok spill it. you have been acting weird for a few weeks now. What on earth is going on? And don’t think me and changbin don’t notice your little whisperings to chan every now and then. Something is up and I want to know. Is it about the guy that was taking pictures of me from his car the other day? Because I already told chan it was nothing to worry about. Just a coincidence.”

Jisung widened his eyes. “what pictures? There was a guy following you?” he started to panic. He didn’t think they would come after seungmin. he thought minho and the others were taking care of that.

Seungmin waved him off. “im sure it was nothing. now back to my questions.”

Jisung started to get nervous from seungmin’s determined look. He really was too smart for his own good.

Jisung opened his mouth, about to say something, when all of a sudden seungmin’s eyes flashed red. Seungmin gripped his head and closed his eyes shut. Jisung scrambled to seungmin’s side, linking their fingers and muttering words of comfort to help seungmin through a vision. This isn’t the first time this has happened to seungmin in front of jisung. By now he knows what to do.

“its ok Minnie. Just let it happen. Everyone dies at some point in their lives, you cant save everyone. Shhh, im right here. Ill be right here when you come back.” He rubbed circles on the back of seungmin’s hand, seungmin squeezing tight to remind himself where he was.

Seungmin came back to the present with a gasp, breathing heavily. Jisung rubbed his arm in comfort, reaching up and wiping away some of the sweat on his forehead.

“you ok? What did you see?” he asked carefully with a quiet voice.

Seungmin shook his head. “I don’t know. This time it was a bit blurry. But I saw a hallway? And someone leaning against a wall with blood on them? I couldn’t make out the face though. I don’t know who they are, but they seemed familiar for some reason…”

Jisung nodded, getting up to get seungmin some water. Once seungmin took a large gulp and calmed down, he turned to jisung. “I feel bad sungie. This person is going to die really soon. I can see these things happen to people, and there's nothing I can do about it. why have this gift if I cant use it to help people?”

Jisung shook his head. “I don’t know Minnie. But you got this gift for a reason. I'm sure one day it will come in handy and you will be thankful you have it.”

Seungmin smiled weakly, trying to let those words comfort him. but it still didn’t help the guilty feeling he gets whenever he sees someone’s life end and his goes on for another day. He sighed, getting up on shaky legs. “I think im going to go and lie down for a little bit. Ill see you tomorrow?”

Jisung gave him a smack on the cheek with his lips, laughing as he tried to dodge seungmin’s weak attempt to hit him. “yeah, ill see you tomorrow morning. Get some rest.”

Seungmin chuckled and left to his bedroom, knowing jisung would let himself out and lock up.

***

Woojin entered their bedroom with a book and a mug of tea, ready for bed, when he noticed chan getting ready.

“channie? Its dark out and your bakery is closed. Why are you getting ready to go out? you know I don’t like it when you leave at dark without me.”

Chan smiled sadly, walking over to give woojin a peck on the lips. “I have to go see jisung. I'm needed there. I have a-“

“-feeling. Yes I know,” woojin chuckled softly, finishing his sentence for him. “you and your feelings are going to be the death of me.”

“if everything goes alright tonight, you might thank me later,” he said cryptically. Woojin pouted, hating being left out of the loop, but knowing chan has a good reason for leaving.

“well, tell jisung I said hi,” woojin sighed, heading towards their bed to wait for chan to come back.

Chan put on his coat, grinning at woojin. “don’t worry. Ill be sure to tell them you said hello.”

Woojin waved him off, opening his book to his saved page. It was only when he heard their door softly click shut that he registered chan’s last words.

_Them?_

***

Minho sat there on the ground in the hallway, chest heaving. Every breath he took felt like agony. He tried to get into his old apartment quickly, but couldn’t really see the door knob. He reached around aimlessly searching when a cough racked his body. He pressed a hand to his mouth as he coughed, and then revealed blood in his palm when he was finished. His time was drawing very near. His body felt like it was on fire, the fever getting worse. It was ridiculously high and sweat matted his face.

His ears started ringing, and he felt a trickle of something wet slowly sliding down the side of his neck.

More blood. That wasn’t good.

He coughed again, trying to suck in air. He felt like he was suffocating, gasping loudly for oxygen and wheezing. He tried to be quiet, he really did. he gave up trying to open his old apartment door, and leaned with his back against the wall, his legs sprawled out in front of him. he pressed the back of his aching head to the cool wall with a thud.

He prayed jisung wont be home soon to see him like this. that would be horrifying to witness with the way he looks now. he was out searching for a sign of any kind to tell him who was targeting jisung, but whoever it was must have covered up their tracks impossibly well. This wasn’t just some amateur job done by some anti-cherished. this was more professional and apparently personal if they keep targeting the same cherished over and over.

He wished he had more time. If only he wasn’t so fragile and breakable. He would have given jisung all of his love, if he wanted it. he chuckled on a sob, thinking of all the things he never got to say. he purposely avoided jisung this entire month, not wanting to be together only to be torn away from him again.

He prayed he would just die quickly and vanish into air like woojin. In a way, he’s almost happy he made it to the apartment in time. He had no where else to go, and this is the exact place where it all started. The exact place he met jisung and changed his life forever.

But did God ever listen to his prayers?

Jisung walked up the stairs, clutching his phone to his ear. “yes seungmin, I made it home. Now go rest!”

He hung up the phone and turned the corner. What he saw made him gasp and drop his phone, letting it clatter to the ground.

“Minho?! Are you okay? What in the hell happened to you?” a million questions raced through his mind as he rushed over to minho.

He saw minho lying there on the ground against the wall in the hallway, blood trickling from his ears and a little bit smudged on his mouth. Seungmin’s description of his vision earlier came back to him, and he bit his lip trying not to sob.

Seungmin’s visions always come true in some way. Whenever he sees a person in his vision, they always end up dying.

Jisung’s medical training kicked in, and he started checking to see the source of the problem. “minho tell me what happened and I can get you patched up again, like last time. Was it more of those antis trying to attack me?! Why aren’t you healing quickly? Is it the fever again? Let me go get some towels and start the bath-“

“Go.” minho breathed out, glaring at jisung. he didnt want jisung to witness him disappearing.

Jisung shook his head stubbornly. “im not going anywhere. I cant just leave you like this!”

Minho whimpered, sagging against the wall as another cough overcame him. “Please. Go.”

Jisung planted his feet on the ground, staring daggers down at minho. “why didn’t you try to see me at least once in the month I got my memories back?! Don’t you know how pissed I am at you right now?”

“I didn’t want to see you. Go away,” he said halfheartedly.

Jisung decided to ignore him and turned around, heading to his apartment and bathroom to start the bath with ice cold water and get some towels. He felt a heated touch tug on his hand keeping him in place. He stopped and looked down at minho’s feverish eyes.

“don’t.” he gulped. “go.” The fever was scrambling his brain, and he had no idea what he was even saying anymore.

“minho whats wrong? I told you, im not leaving you-“

Minho shook his head, cutting him off. “Don’t.” A sharp intake of breath, then he whispered the words the best he could. “Don’t go.”

Jisung’s breath hitched and he saw how terrified minho looked in that moment. Minho breathed heavily, his whole body trembling as he stared at jisung so intently, trying to remember his face one last time before he goes.

“minho I cant help you unless you answer me!” jisung was starting to get really worried, unsure of what to do.

“He cant. It probably hurts too much to speak,” chan said behind jisung.

Jisung jumped at the sound of his voice. He didn’t even notice chan approaching in his haste to help minho. Jisung was about to ask how he knew to come here, but chan held up his hand to cut him off.

“I know all about everything,” he told the blonde. Jisung should have seen that coming, and so he scoffed at chan.

“what can I do? why isn’t he healing fast?!” he cried out to chan.

“He cant heal himself anymore. He’s out of time. Am I right minho?”

Minho glared at him, threatening him with his eyes to shut the hell up.

Chan chuckled humorlessly. “I’m right.”

“Time is up? What the hell are you talking about?” jisung looked back and forth between the two.

Chan ignored jisung and stared down at minho. “He can save you. Why didn’t you ask him?”

Jisung ran a hand through his hair in agitation, “how the hell can I save him? whats wrong with him?!” he yelled at chan. Jisung snapped, not liking that he was left out of whatever was going on. “Somebody better tell me whats going on, and they better tell me right now,” he demanded, his eyes glinting red in anger.

Minho shook his head at chan, warning him not to say anything. He didn’t know why chan knew about them and their condition, but he wasn’t going to risk jisung’s freedom like this.

Chan smirked at him, ignoring his silent pleas. To jisung he said, “He’s dying.”

Jisung glared at the light haired male, “no shit Sherlock, I gathered that much.” Jisung waved his arms around at minho to prove his point. He was too scared to touch minho, afraid that he would bring him more pain.

Chan continued, “he’s not human, as you know. He’s a daimon, a gifted spirit born to protect us cherished with his life. but he’s cursed.”

Minho coughed again, wiping blood from his mouth. Jisung glanced down at him, but continued to listen to chan.

“According to the literature and legends, God made beings in his likeness. They were his greatest creations and he loved them the most. That’s us. Our ancestors were humans who were chosen specifically by God himself to be blessed with a special gift. We became a race known as the cherished, not quite human, but not a god. We were gifted with a longer life and special abilities of some kind. We are the closest thing God has to his beloved humans.”

Jisung already knew this, impatient for chan to make his point. He stepped closer to minho, letting panic slowly creep in at the look of his worsening condition.

“The humans were jealous of us. They feared god’s cherished, and started to hunt them. God was angry at this, so he had to do something about it. As there is always two sides to a coin, he also created the cursed ones. He couldn’t risk his cherished being destroyed, and so he created beings like his cherished, but not. the cursed were made strong, they can run at incredible speeds and lift heavy objects. They can heal quickly, their bodies are hard to destroy, and they can hear extremely well. You name it. but there's a catch. Their cursed blood kills them from the inside out, and their timelines are considerably shorter than even a human’s.”

“what?” jisung squeaked out, eyes widening at what chan was implying.

Chan looked at him sadly. “To put it simply, they burn out quickly. God couldn’t risk them being invincible beings and wreaking havoc on his precious humans and cherished. and so, once their blood destroys them, they are replaced over and over to protect us throughout our long life spans.”

Jisung just stared at chan, then back down to minho. Minho was angrily glaring at the wall, clutching his waist now and barely breathing. His organs were beginning to shut down, from the least important to the most important ones.

Jisung licked his lips, his voice quivering as he spoke to minho. “you knew? You knew you were going to die and you didn’t tell me?”

“I’m surprised he lasted this long. They rarely make it to the age of 25.” Chan muttered.

Jisung glared right back at minho, his whole body shaking in panic. All of the signs were there, he just was too stupid to notice. Or minho was too good at hiding it. but even so, he should have tried harder, asked him more about the touch craze and the fevers.

“you said I can save him. how?” he asked chan without looking away from minho.

Minho’s eyes widened, panicking. “No…” he rasped out.

Chan didn’t answer for several moments, watching minho carefully. A feeling came to him.

Jisung turned his glare back to chan. “How?!”

Time was running out. chan looked at minho and chose his next words carefully. “you aren’t a monster. Your life isn’t meaningless. And believe it or not, we care about you. im telling jisung the truth. It will be his decision to make.”

“why…” minho whispered, coughing up blood again.

“why am i helping you? because I made the same decision jisung is about to make, and I don’t regret a single thing,” chan declared confidently.

Minho’s eyes widened and watered at the implied meaning of his words. “Woojin?” he whispered. Chan nodded, confirming what minho was asking. He saved woojin, and he was alive and well.

Then to jisung he said, “you can save him by giving him some of your blessed blood.”

Jisung scrunched up his nose. “ok, that’s all? Why are we making such a big deal about this?” he crouched down and reached for minho’s hand, softly interlocking their fingers. Minho’s eyes started to dim, barely able to focus.

“Because you will be tying him to you for all eternity. He will share your lifeline. Whatever happens to you, if you die, he dies. You are essentially anchoring him to you. You both will be giving up your freedom, and it cant be undone. In a way, you are his master, and he must obey. He can never go against you. He is simply a tool in your belt, forced to be by your side."

Jisung felt his fingertips get slightly squeezed. Minho shook his head, panic in his eyes.

Jisung frowned, misunderstanding him. “you don’t want me to? Am I not good enough? Do you hate me that much?” jisung’s eyes started to water, tears forming at the thought that minho never felt the same about him. that hurt beyond anything else he has ever experienced.

Minho tried to get his attention. “I would gladly give my life to you…” he whispered, breathing out harshly.

“Then why? Why cant I save you?! You already know what my decision is!” jisung yelled at him, making minho flinch.

“I didn’t…want you to be anchored to me…you are too precious to be with someone like me. I'm not good enough.”

Jisung’s face went blank.

“you are life and love. I'm like death and destruction,” he raised his fingers slightly, trying to caress jisung’s face one last time. It was all too familiar to jisung. In the end, minho let his hand fall to the floor, too weak to bring it up. Jisung leaned closer, cupping minho’s cheek instead.

Minho leaned into the touch, sighing. “we were never loved by our creator. Some of us were devastated at the thought of being just mindless shields for the cherished.” he looked up at jisung weakly. “the others…they are jealous. They yearn for His approval. But I don’t need God. Not when I have you,” he chuckled slightly.

Jisung blinked at him, watching as his face started to take on an ash gray color. “in the mountains. You saved me. What did you do?” he never truly understood how minho saved him, and chan wouldn’t tell when he woke up.

“He gave his life to you without you even asking for it,” chan budded in. “He gave you his blood even though its forbidden. He tainted your blessed blood to save you with his healing abilities. By doing that, he already anchored himself to you, which is only half of the process. By doing this, he damned himself completely from God’s graces, sentenced to wander in the afterlife. Their number one rule was to never mix blood with our kind. At least, that’s what woojin said he found in the literature and ancient scriptures. That’s what they are taught at their agency. Minho thinks he’s unworthy of love from God, and accepted his fate as a cursed one. I'm right, aren’t I, Minho?”

Jisung stood up again slowly, processing all this information. “So you’re telling me he’s sitting here dying because he’s a little butt-hurt for going to hell because he saved me with his cursed blood?”

Chan blinked at jisung, “uhhh well I mean, yeah-“

Jisung’s temper rose again, now that he was starting to understand the situation. He squinted his eyes in irritation down at minho. “you listen here you arrogant jerk. You don’t make these decisions for me. Screw god, to hell with these ancient laws that some old crusty guy wrote down in a diary, and if you’re going to hell because you decided to do the _human_ thing and save me even though you knew you were giving up your freedom, then I might as well join you!”

Chan grinned from behind jisung, his dimples showing as he handed jisung a pocket knife. “I had a feeling you were going to say that. I pretty much told woojin the same thing later on. These cursed ones sure are a dramatic bunch. This is literally the 21st century. What are we, in the biblical times?”

Jisung glared at minho as he sliced his palm, ignoring the pain. He pooled the blood in his palm as he chewed minho out some more.

“now listen here, mister. You are going to shut up and quit your boo-hooing about being a monster or destruction or whatever. What are we, in Twilight? Did you think disappearing without a trace was the answer? Were you stupid enough to think that you being gone for a month was the best thing for me? How would you like it if the person you loved the most just suddenly vanished forever?” minho raised his brows in shock at the confession.

But still jisung continued.

“You annoy me more than anyone in the world, and I want to spend every irritating moment with you.”

Minho’s eyes started to water, but he blinked the tears away trying to focus on jisung’s face.

“Now, you are going to drink my blood so that it saves your sorry ass, and its going to be the best damn blood you’ve ever had.” He brought his hand up to his lips, cutting off his nonstop rant.

Minho was close to passing out, but he would’ve chuckled if he could. Then jisung stepped over minho so that minho was sitting on the ground in between his legs. Jisung looked down at minho with a determined look and grabbed minho’s chin gently, pulling up so that minho had no choice but to give jisung eye contact. Minho was completely at jisung’s mercy. He parted minho’s lips gently with his fingertips, and then bent down and smashed his own lips to minho’s harshly so that minho couldn’t do something dumb, like back away at the last minute.

Minho was startled, and too weak to deny jisung. He kissed him back and instantly felt a fire licking his body from the inside out. his eyes glowed bright golden and his body started healing at an incredible rate, faster than his usual healing.

A tingling sensation formed at the side of his neck. Minho closed his eyes and waited for it to fade away. Still, jisung kissed him softly, slowly. Like he has all of the time in the world, which minho guesses he does now. Jisung brought his good hand up to cup minho’s face, ignoring the prickling feeling on the inside of his wrist.

Jisung instantly ended the kiss, licking minho’s bottom lip before pulling away. On reflex, minho tried to chase after him but jisung was too quick. He stared down at minho with vibrant red eyes.

The delicate black scrawling finished on minho’s neck and jisung’s wrist. Jisung leaned in closer to minho, examining the tattoo that was on his neck.

It was in the shape of a marigold flower.

“why did a black outline of a marigold draw itself onto the side of your neck?” jisung asked him, curious.

“that’s his bond to you,” chan said. “Once a blessed and a cursed freely exchange blood, they complete the bond and anchor themselves to each other. the two people now share a life force, and the cursed are forced to serve the blessed for the rest of their lives. The tattoo takes the shape of a flower on the cursed’s neck, symbolizing their link to their cherished. minho’s is a marigold flower because his birthday is in October. In a sense, its like a second rebirth for him since he practically came back from the dead. The blessed have a matching smaller version on the inside of their wrist. Its proof of their ownership to that specific daemon. The tattoo on the cursed’s neck is almost like a metaphorical dog collar. It can disappear from sight so that they can walk around without drawing too much attention to themselves, but it returns when the blessed call upon them.”

Jisung stood up, turning to face chan. “and woojin? Does he have one too?”

Chan smiled bringing his wrist up to his lips and kissing the mark gently, “my woojinnie has a daisy on his neck. His birthday is in April, and the stubborn jerk didn’t tell me. I missed it because they erased our memories.” Chan pouted with a huff, more upset about missing his birthday than getting his memories erased.

Minho leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes while they talked. He cant believe what just happened. He was damned to hell forever now, but the thought of living the rest of his life out with jisung made him smile.

“so channie, you said that we have longer lifespans as cherished. How long do we live for?”

Chan rubbed his mouth, thinking. “I believe woojin said that the cherished can live for a couple hundred years. They aren’t immortal, but they have an extended life compared to a human. Roughly 500 years maybe?”

Jisung’s eyes bugged out of their sockets. “500 years?! What?! I thought I just had a baby face!!”

Chan nodded, “we all are going to live that long, actually. Seungmin and changbin included since they are also cherished. and now woojin and minho get to live along side us and protect us.”

Chan smirked down evilly at minho. “we also get to order them around and they have to listen. Having that kind of power is dangerous. I can see why the daimons don’t like to anchor themselves to the cherished.”

Jisung also smiled evilly, “oh yes. That is quite a predicament they are in.”

Minho opened his eyes, watching as they chuckled evilly to themselves in a huddle. “you know I can hear you guys…” He closed his eyes again, ignoring their not so subtle whispers of revenge for having their memories erased and being left alone for months.

He should be worried about them abusing their powers on him and woojin, but instead he chuckled softly with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Diamond Heart" by alan walker ft sophia somajo


	20. Find You

Jisung opened his eyes, blinking at the sunlight that was filtering through his bedroom window and feeling warmer than he should. He brought a hand up to brush away some of his bangs, and then realized it was a little uncomfortable for him to breathe.

He lifted his head slightly and glanced down, almost groaning in the quiet bedroom. He smacked his head back against his pillow and brought an arm up to shield his eyes from the sun.

This seriously can _not_ be happening again.

Just to be sure, he glanced back down.

Yep.

There was minho, lying face down across jisung’s chest again, his arms tightly wrapped around his waist. Oh, and did jisung mention his shirt was bundled up to his neck? This was like déjà vu.

The blankets were kicked off the edge of the bed, and minho was shirtless _again_.

But unlike last time, jisung didn’t hold back.

He nudged minho gently. “yah. Wake up. Why do I even bother wearing a shirt to bed if you are just gonna pull this crap every time?” he nudged him again, trying to lift minho off of him. “and you aren’t the lightest person I know, might I add.”

Minho mumbled something incoherent, scooching up more so that he could block out the sunlight behind his eyelids by burying his face in jisung’s neck/shirt.

Jisung sighed, getting the message that minho wasn’t going to wake up any minute now. He lowered his arm and ran his fingers through minho’s hair, separating out the slight tangles.

It was hard to believe almost a year has passed by since they were last like this. but things were different this time. Minho was officially his. he finally understands now that the strong possessiveness he felt last time was a subconscious part of himself telling him to save minho, his soul urging him to make minho theirs. he doesn’t know for sure why he feels like this, but now that minho was anchored to him he could finally breathe easier. A weight he didn’t realize he had was lifted off his heart the moment he linked minho to his lifeline.

He still couldn’t believe that he was going to live for a long time. He supposes it was a good thing he’s been alone his whole life, otherwise he would have had to depart from friends or loved ones, watching them die one by one. And besides, he had chan and the others now too. He wonders if maybe that’s another reason why God created the daemons. Why would he want to live out his life forever alone, when he can literally anchor his partner to him so that they could be together forever?

Unless…he dated another cherished. but the cherished were so rare in the world, there wouldn’t be enough of them to pair up. And that would also mean his only choices would have been chan, seungmin, or changbin since they are the only cherished he has ever encountered in his life.

He gagged at the thought of being with seungmin, his best friend for years, _in that way_. Seungmin would strangle him for even considering this.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize he stopped combing gently through minho’s hair, leaving his hand resting on top of the older boy’s head. Minho grunted at this, picking jisung's hand up and making him continue what he was doing.

Jisung snorted, looking down at the top of minho’s head which was still buried in his neck. Still, he complied and continued to brush his fingertips through minho’s hair. “I see you’re finally awake.”

“Unfortunately,” minho mumbled sleepily. His morning voice really does something to jisung.

Jisung pulled his hand back and stopped playing with his hair just to tease him. minho whined angrily at this and then aggressively grabbed jisung’s hand again and plopped it on his head. Jisung started giving him pats, and minho happily snuggled closer into his side, still half on top of jisung. Jisung grinned down at the childish way minho was acting, and he can honestly say he fell even a little more in love with him in this moment, if that was possible.

They stayed like that for several long minutes, not saying anything and just enjoying each other’s presence. Jisung was finally able to sleep better again, and now he remembers why he couldn’t before. He traced his fingers lightly from minho’s hair to across his bare shoulders and down his spine, then back up again.

“do you still crave my touch? Is that why you attached yourself to me again in the middle of the night?” he wondered out loud. he wasn’t actually asking minho, but just saying his thoughts.  

Minho shivered at jisung’s touch, fully awake now. He slightly detached himself from jisung and leaned up on his elbows on either side of jisung to stare into his eyes. He was still lying on top of the blonde, skin to skin, with the exception of jisung’s bundled up shirt getting in the way. He frowned at that, making a mental note to get rid of it next time. It was too inconvenient.  

“no I don’t crave it. I mean, yes I do, but this time its different,” he quietly tried to explain, flicking some of his messy bangs out of his eyes. Jisung reached both of his hands up to brush them away for minho, cupping the sides of his face. his other hand, the one he wasn’t using before, was neatly bandaged up thanks to chan the previous night. The cut he made closed up, but it still stung.

“before, I craved your touch because of my cursed blood. It has been slowly killing me from the inside since I was born. That’s something every daemon learns to accept about ourselves. Our only purpose in life is to protect the cherished for as long as we can. As the end of my time drew near, the craving for a blessed’s touch became stronger. It was my cursed blood wanting to desperately hold out for as long as it could. Just being near blessed blood calms down the raging destruction that was going on inside of me at a cellular level. It was like my blood knew it could be healed by a cherished, and so it desperately urged me to get closer to one. Its like that for all of us, some moreso than the others.”

“you mean hyunjin?” jisung quietly asked, remembering the way hyunjin seemed to suffer a little more to the point that he couldn't hide it from everyone. Minho nodded.

“I still crave your touch. You will forever have blessed blood, and my cursed blood will always be drawn to that on a physiological level. But I don’t feel pain anymore, or fevers. You gave me your precious blood, saving my life and anchoring me to you. You officially claimed me as yours. My body will only want _you_ from now on. Your touch is now a constant reassurance of our connection. Touching you still feels like heaven.”

To further prove his point, minho leaned down and kissed both of jisung’s soft cheeks, rubbing his own against jisung’s like a cat, causing him to giggle.

Then jisung pouted playfully, leaning away from minho momentarily. “does that mean you only want me because I practically shoved my blood down your throat, forcing you to stay with me?” he was only half kidding, but a secret part of him worried. How could someone as perfect and beautiful as minho ever like someone like him? he was just plain, and a little bit dull.

Minho gazed into jisung’s eyes for a few moments, causing him to want to look away. Still, jisung held his stare. It was almost as if minho could read between the lines in his joking question. Perhaps he could.

Leaning completely on one elbow, minho brought his hand up to jisung’s chin to keep him still. He got impossibly close to his face, and jisung could feel the breath on his lips as he talked.

Without breaking eye contact minho brushed his lips lightly against jisung’s as he murmured, “trust me, love. I wanted you long before we exchanged blood. Way before you anchored me to yourself.” And then he reassured jisung by lightly kissing him.

Jisung almost let himself melt into the feel of minho’s lips, closing his eyes, but then he pulled away briefly. Minho chased after him, only stopping when jisung spoke up.

“but why? What’s so special about _me_? You could have any cherished you want.” Jisung couldn’t help his slight insecurity. Everybody has a little bit of their own doubts, it was just a normal thing to go through.

Minho slightly adjusted himself, pressing into jisung a little more. “do I need a specific reason to love you?” he asked boldly. Jisung sucked in a breath. Deep down he knew minho liked him, for goodness sake he almost _died_ for him. but this was the first time he admitted it out loud so clearly to jisung.

Jisung didn’t say anything to that as he slightly blushed and looked away, tilting his head to the side into his pillow. Minho smirked out of amusement. He was going to kiss jisung again, this time properly, when a glint of silver caught his eye.

Blinking down at jisung, minho noticed something his mind was too hazy yesterday to notice before. “you still have my earring,” he whispered, swallowing the emotion in his voice and reaching out to gently graze it with his fingertips. It really has been too long since that day he gave it away.

Jisung licked his lips, looking back at minho. “of course I do. you gave it to me to get my memories back, didn’t you?”

Minho shook his head. “I hoped you would, but that’s not why I gave it to you. I simply gave it to you to remember me by.”

Minho continued to stare down at his earring in jisung’s ear, a sadness taking over his face. Jisung didn’t like seeing that expression on him. he reached his arms around minho’s neck, pulling him closer and shifting so that minho settled better on top of him.

Minho looked back into jisung’s concerned eyes. “I was always afraid of no one remembering me, of being forgotten. My parents were gone, and then I thought woojin was gone too, my friends also being submitted to the same fate one day. I was afraid of dying and not being remembered even just a little. It would have been like I didn’t even exist on this world, and that scared me. But then there was you. If anyone was to remember me before I died, I wanted it to be you.”

Jisung bit his lip, trying to keep his face neutral and free of emotion as he listened to minho. Finally the older boy was opening up.

“sure I remembered your psychometry, but I have no idea how it works for you. I had no idea what you would see when you touched it, _if_ you could even see anything at all. I was just desperate to leave something of myself behind for you.”

He brushed through jisung’s hair with shaking fingers. “when I saved you in the mountains, I was so angry at you Han Jisung,” he said quietly.

Jisung frowned. “you were angry? Why? If anyone should be angry, it should be me. I was forced against my will to have my memories erased and then I lived each day feeling broken, like a piece of me was missing.”

Minho could feel his heart speed up at the confession of jisung unconsciously missing him. “you were supposed to remember me when I was gone, but then you had your memories erased, and once again I couldn’t even have _that_ before my death. It just wasn’t fair,” his voice broke a little at the end, and he buried his face into the crook of jisung’s neck.

Jisung stayed quiet as minho took small breaths against his skin. His heart ached at the thought of how difficult it must be for all of the daemons to know exactly when they were going to die. That’s just torturous in his opinion.

“it worked, by the way,” he told minho softly.

“what?” minho muttered against him.

“I saw the earring’s memories. Your memories to be more specific.”

Minho turned his head, placing a soft kiss against jisung’s neck. “what did you see?”

Jisung took a deep breath. “at first I saw a burning field and a small boy holding his dying mother’s hand. that small boy took her earring, and left with an older man, never looking back. It was the same as that first night in your apartment. But then…” he paused, not exactly sure how to word the next part.

“but then?” minho prompted, curious.

“but then I saw newer memories, recent ones…of myself. Just tons and tons of images of myself over a period of time. It was a bit overwhelming at first.”

“you saw yourself? Like what?” minho furrowed his brows in confusion, not quite understanding.

Jisung squeezed minho tighter, a little embarrassed at explaining minho’s memories back to him. in a way, its like an intrusion to his mind. That’s part of the reason why jisung doesn’t like to use his abilities very often in everyday life.

“my psychometry…it’s a bit difficult to understand. When I touch an object, I can see the history of that object. That’s pretty normal and common for old pieces of antiques and stuff. But when an object was precious or highly favored, it becomes a little more intense for me. I can see memories the user of that object experienced, I can feel the emotions they felt, I can experience only the very important things they held dear with that object. When a strong emotional event occurs with the user, it engraves their memories and feelings into that object. We leave traces of ourselves all over the place in the things we love and cherish. With my abilities, I can see those things. I ‘glean’ them from the object.”

Minho was starting to get it, and he looked at jisung suspiciously. “so you saw some of my memories that were the most important to me while i wore that earring. You were able to feel the emotions I experienced at those moments in time.”

Jisung nodded, licking his lips and not saying anything more.

“tell me love. What exactly did you see?”

“like I said before, I saw myself.” Jisung looked away, the moment too intimate for his liking.

Minho nipped his bottom lip harshly, earning a glare from jisung. “you’re not telling me everything. I want you to elaborate.”

Jisung huffed, wiggling under minho. “fine, you annoying jerk. There were only two points in time that left such strong memories on the object. First was the day you were taken away as a boy, and the second was when you met me. Nothing else left a big enough impact on the earring in between those two points in time.”

Minho continued to stare at jisung, unsure of what to say. It was like jisung was seeing a part of himself that not even he could unbury.

Jisung continued, “after my memories were erased, I touched the earring by accident, and was flooded with memories of myself through your eyes. Each and every moment we shared, I felt everything you felt.” He swallowed, trying to keep his voice neutral sounding.

But it was useless. Even though his voice sounded normal, he couldn’t keep minho from seeing the emotion in his eyes. So he closed them as he continued.

“every night after that, I stayed up in the dark watching over and over the memories of someone I couldn’t remember. I felt so broken. The more I gleaned, the more my chest ached. I couldn’t breathe, I had no idea what was happening and it freaked me out. my whole life I wanted someone to love me, I yearned for it, and I was fine living without ever knowing what that felt like. But then here pops up this random earring carrying with it memories and emotions of someone who looked at me like I was special, someone who looked at me like I was their world, someone who was afraid of losing me. And through their eyes I watched myself fall in love with this person more and more as the days went by.”

Tears started to fall out of the corners of jisung’s closed eyes. “I was fine living without ever knowing what it felt like to love and be loved,” he repeated. "I came to peace with that long ago. And then I realized I _did_ know what it felt like. I realized I had what I always wanted right in front of me, and I couldn’t even remember it. it was taken from me, and I willingly tortured myself every night watching what could have been. Do you know what that’s like minho? Knowing someone who meant the world to you was suddenly gone, but having no idea how to get them back?”

Minho leaned in and kissed jisung’s tears away softly.

“so finally one night, as I lay there pathetic and crying over someone I didn’t even know, I decided to find you. The only clue I had was the field you were in as a boy. long story short, I found what used to be your home village, and then I went to the field in the hopes to find something that led me to you.”

“did you find anything?” minho asked quietly.

Jisung sniffled, “No. just some bastard that stabbed me and ran away. The piece of shit couldn’t even man up and finish the job, letting me lay there in the snow to slowly die. Tch. Honestly, even the assassins nowadays are worthless.”

Minho snorted despite himself. that was such a typical jisung thing to say and he missed it so much. He twirled his earring between his fingers, deep in thought over what jisung just said. if he could see and feel all of that just from this small object, then why does he doubt how much he loves him? why is he still insecure sometimes? Minho vowed to make sure jisung never felt that way in all of their years together.

Jisung let him play with the earring before asking gently, “did you want it back? It was your mother’s wasn’t it?”

Minho stopped twirling it, silence filling the room.

He finally shook his head, making up his mind. “no, I want you to keep it. I like the thought of you wearing something of mine. This is what brought us together again, after all. Besides, you look kinda hot in it,” minho wiggled his eyebrows at him.

Jisung smacked him lightly. “are you sure? Doesn’t it mean a lot since it was your mother’s?”

“she would want you to have it. trust me,” minho said without a doubt.

Jisung bit his lip, wanting to ask more, but unsure of how to go about it. minho sighed anyways, knowing that look all too well.

“go ahead. Ask me.”

“tell me about her. Your family, where you came from. i want to know all of it.”

Minho pecked jisung’s lips, unable to help himself from going without jisung’s touch for long. He thought about where he should begin, on what things he could remember.

Finally he spoke up. “I was really young when I was taken to the agency. We were happy, my parents and i. until one day, fire started spreading and people were running and screaming. My mother took my hand and ran as fast as she could towards the forest. My father stayed behind. I can only guess as to why, and i never saw him again.”

“why?” jisung asked.

“I later realized he stayed because he couldn’t run as fast as my mother could. He sacrificed himself so that we could get away.”

Jisung sucked in a breath, understanding what he was implying. “was he…?”

Minho nodded. “my father was a cherished. im not sure what his psychic abilities were, but he knew he didn’t have the strength, the agility my mother had and he would only slow us down. he must have told her to go without him. he was probably trusting that since he was a cherished whoever was attacking the village would let him live. You cherished are our future and must be protected, so there was no way they would hurt him. My mother and I on the other hand was dispensable, being daimons.”

“how does that even work? You're a daimon but your father was cherished. wouldn’t you be half cherished then?” this was all new to jisung.

“technically yes, I am half cherished. so is woojin. But when a cherished and a daemon have a child, the dominant trait takes over. The child will always be born as a daemon no matter what. The cursed blood is some strong stuff. The reason why woojin and I could live fully until our 25th birthdays was because deep down in our genetics somewhere we still had some of the blessed abilities of our cherished parents. But all in all, I am a descendant of a daemon, and just because my life was slightly longer than everyone else’s doesn’t mean im special in any other way.” He shrugged, stating it as a fact.

“ok so your dad stayed behind because he knew they wouldn’t kill a cherished, and your mother ran with you to the safety of the field, away from the fire and death. Then what?”

“this is where it kind of gets blurry. I know my mother protected me the best she could. Everyone from the village was running in every direction, trying to escape and some tried to fight back. You see, we all lived in pairs, of cherished and daemons who anchored themselves to each other. The cursed tried to protect their cherished to the best of their abilities, but in the end both the daemons and the cherished were killed. They were all slaughtered around me. The fire spread to the field near our village and my mother and I almost got away. But then…”

Jisung waited as minho tried to recall what happened.

“I was never clear on what exactly happened next. over the years I made assumptions, but never really got my answers. My mother was holding my hand, running as fast as she and I could. And then she suddenly dropped to the ground, clutching her heart and gasping for breath. I went down with her since she was still holding my hand. she said something to me, something about not trusting ‘them’ and that ‘it wasn’t the cherished’s fault.’ She told me I needed to protect the cherished. after she died, I took the only thing I could to remember her by, and then watched as Sir Park approached me. He told me I could come with him to train to protect the cherished until the day I die. I remember my father telling me to never show any weakness in front of others. So without looking back, I took my mother’s words to heart and left to train in order to find and protect as many cherished as I could.”

“but…but why did your mother die so suddenly?” jisung mumbled.

“ah. I think its because my father was killed first. As soon as his life ended, my mother’s did too since she was anchored to his lifeline. It would seem my father was wrong, and they didn’t spare him.”

Jisung sucked in a breath, suddenly feeling the weight of his words. If jisung dies, minho dies as well. Suddenly his life seemed a lot more important than before.

“what did your village do that called for such a horrible thing to happen?”

“I'm not too sure about that, actually. All I know is that they broke some very important laws and had to be punished. It would seem they spared the children only, myself included.”

Minho suddenly became very serious, looking jisung dead in the eyes. “jisung can you remember anything about the day you were almost killed? Ive been trying to search for some kind of answers, but the trail ended up dead. I desperately spent the last month of my time trying to get rid of the threat on your life, but failed.” He hung his head, upset with himself.

Jisung’s heart swelled at the confession. “that’s why you didn’t see me for a whole month after my memories returned?”

Minho nodded, “I didn’t want you to see me disappear into thin air. That would have been horrifying for anyone to watch.”

The anger jisung felt before fully went away now that he understands completely. He brought his face closer to minho’s and kissed him with a smile.

“god I love you so much.”

Minho smirked back, burying his hands back into jisung’s hair as he pressed jisung into the pillows and reconnected their lips. He took his time, savoring every moment. For once he didn’t feel like he had to live life in a fast pace, desperately trying to enjoy every moment he had before it was taken from him.

Jisung sighed, and minho swallowed it, breathing in when he exhaled. His hands trailed down to grip jisung’s bare waist, loving the feel of his soft skin.

Jisung broke away from the kiss, gasping. “wait.”

Minho licked jisung’s lips, but halted. “too much, love?”

Jisung glared at him. “please, do you even know me? im not some young woman about to be de-flowered. I cant even count the amount of times I almost jumped your bones in public.”

Minho laughed. _there_ was his cherished’s well-known attitude he loved so much. “then what's the problem?”

Jisung squirmed under minho. “I don’t know if you realize this, but you weigh a ton. I cant kiss you properly with you crushing me.”

Minho smirked, “so you like to be the one on top. I’m ok with that.”

Jisung blushed, spluttering, “that’s not what I meant and you know it!”

Minho chuckled evilly and kissed him one last time before crawling off him. he stretched, and jisung’s mouth watered at the sight in front of him.

“you’re drooling, love.”

“then get me a towel, because damn I am never going to get used to this.”

“get it yourself, I have to get ready.”

Jisung frowned, slightly panicked that minho was going to leave him again. “where are you going?” he tried to ask casually, stomping down on his fear of being separated from minho.

“im going back to my agency to get some answers. I don’t think you realize just how pissed I am that you were almost killed. I don’t even know how I made it in time. Thank god you are too stubborn to die right away. Park promised us that you all were safe and well protected. You getting hurt is unacceptable.”

Jisung nodded, biting his lip. He understood where minho was coming from, but he still didn’t like him leaving his side for long. What if they never let him come back again?

“just…come back soon?” he asked in a small voice.

Minho’s eyes softened at the way jisung was looking at him. he leaned back onto the bed and gave jisung a heated kiss before backing away. “ill be back soon, I promise im not going anywhere ever again. Me and you, we are one, yeah?”

Jisung nodded, feeling a little better. “ok. I think ill go see chan and woojin then.”

Minho got dressed and headed to the door. Before he left, he stopped in his spot, spinning on his heel and heading back to jisung. Jisung looked up confused.

“you forget something?”

“actually yeah I did.” minho bit his own bottom lip harshly, drawing blood. He quickly approached jisung and kissed him one more time with purpose. Jisung was startled, but kissed him back. Minho forced his lips to part, delving in deeper.

When they parted and panted for breath, jisung licked his lips out of habit.

“minho, are you bleeding?” he could taste the metallic tang of iron on his lips.

“yes, I couldn’t just leave knowing my precious cherished was injured. I'm sorry I didn’t realize it sooner.”

“huh?” jisung was so confused.

“your hand, love. I had to heal it with my blood. That small amount should do the trick.” He licked his owns lips, the harsh bite he made already healing itself.

Jisung looked down at his hand and slowly undid the bandage. When it was completely off, his entire cut was completely healed, no scar in sight.

“woah, what the hell! I knew you healed me in the mountains and all, but this is so cool to actually experience it. can you do that for everybody?”

Minho shook his head. “no, my daemon’s blood has to be given freely by choice and with the purest of intentions. It will only work for you because I chose you as my cherished. I cant heal anyone else now. That’s another reason why it is forbidden to exchange blood with a blessed person.”

Jisung blinked up at him, not knowing what to say. There was a lot more to the exchange of their blood than he realized. Still, he would never regret the choice he made.

***

Minho marched into the doors, letting them bang against the wall. He was looking for jeongin. if anyone knew where their boss was, it was him. he walked past the sparring rooms on a mission.

Everyone in the area watched him, but did not dare make a move.

Hyunjin and felix were training together when they saw minho swiftly pass by. they looked at each other and followed him.

“hyung? Minho hyung!” felix called out. still minho did not stop. He turned a corner and found jeongin sifting through paperwork at a desk, presumably the possible candidates for newly discovered cherished. he’s been helping find more around the world so that they could send out daemons to protect them.

“jeongin, where is he?”

Jeongin looked up startled. “hyung? How are you here? I thought you were at home ‘resting.’”

Minho decided to cut the crap. “yesterday was my day, jeongin. I was supposed to die, but jisung saved me. I'm anchored to him now.” Everyone in the whole building heard this and gasped.

Murmurs could be heard throughout the rooms and halls, no doubt the news passing quickly. What minho admitted could get him killed, or locked away to spend the rest of his time without his cherished. he knows this, but he will be damned if someone tries to separate him from jisung now.

“I need to see-” but he was cut off with a thunderous pounding heading his way. He smirked. It looks like finding his boss was a lot easier than he thought.

He turned in the direction the footsteps were coming from, and met Sir Park and JYP with a bored stare.

Park approached minho, furious beyond belief. To minho’s side was hyunjin and felix, and jeongin was still a little further in the back standing up, his papers long forgotten.

“how dare you! I cant believe you gave him some of your blood! You not only brought his memories back, but you tainted him! you tainted a cherished with your cursed blood!”

Minho snapped. Even though Park and the others didn’t see it, his friends have known him long enough to recognize that look.

“What was I supposed to do?! He was dying! He was seconds away from leaving this world forever!” minho never raised his voice. Hyunjin and the others looked over at him surprised, he must have been more shaken up about almost losing jisung than he let on all this time.

Minho continued, stepping into Park’s personal space, his face blank but his eyes blazing in anger. “ _you_ were the ones who told us they were safe and protected. _You_ ignored our opinions and deemed the threats gone! _You_ were the ones that forced us to leave their side!” that last part was what hurt minho and the others most of all.

Sir Park looked at them with a bored expression, unfazed by minho’s anger, “you’re right. Jisung and the others are important psychics. They are one of the strongest and most blessed of the cherished. Saving his powers was top priority.”

Minho frowned, he didn’t give a rats ass about jisung’s powers. As he watched jisung die, he only thought of saving him. even if he gave up his freedom because of it.

“but that does _not_ mean you had the right to take his blood in return. By giving your cherished some of your blood, you only completed half the process. Jisung had no obligations to you whatsoever. You were the only one linked to him, he was not linked to you. Once you died, the bond you started would vanish and jisung would be free of you.”

Hyunjin and felix shuffled anxiously on their feet at his words, no doubt the same thing happening to seungmin and changbin once they were gone.

Still, Park continued his lecture. “But then you foolishly go and beg for him to save you. Of course he would help you out! he had no idea what he was getting himself into!”

Minho’s eyes flashed golden in anger. “I did not _beg_ for him to save me. I would’ve gladly died without ever seeing him again. But then someone goes and tries to stab him! as a protector of cherished, how was I supposed to die knowing there was still someone out there harming him and everyone else?”

A few murmurs of agreement traveled across the room.

Park frowned not arguing against minho’s reasonings. He looked around to everyone, especially felix and hyunjin. They all stared back at him, waiting for him to make his next move, to tell them what to do.

Park sighed, running a hand through his hair. “fine. I acknowledge your actions, even if I don’t agree with them. Don’t misunderstand this as me letting you off the hook. You still broke every rule and law out there. Unfortunately, you cant be the leader of your team anymore. Since you are anchored to jisung, he is the only one you are obligated to protect because he literally holds your life in his hands. I'm not confident sending you to protect other cherished knowing jisung will forever be your number one priority from now on.”

Minho bowed his head reluctantly in obedience. “as of right now, our first mission is to figure out who is targeting jisung. Hyunjin, you are the temporary leader of what’s left of your team. Jeongin, I want you to oversee the safety of the cherished that is associated with jisung.”

With a final sweep of his eyes across all of the faces in the room he declared, “this does not excuse the fact that minho went against my orders. He will be punished accordingly given the circumstances. Anyone else who tries to pull the same stunt as him will have to answer to me.”

He turned on his heel, but before he left he said to jeongin, “I want you to meet me in my office so that I can go over the plans to protect the cherished. specific safety measures need to be implemented now.” and then he stomped out of the room. JYP remained silent, following in his footsteps.

After a few more moments, the room of people slowly disbursed, everyone going back to their own work. Jeongin glanced at his hyungs and then followed after their boss.

Minho stepped into a quiet room, entering and waiting knowing everyone was going to join him. once felix and hyunjin stepped into their private meeting room and closed the door, silence hung in the air around them.

Minho looked down, slightly ashamed that he broke their laws and now gets to live longer than them. To their eyes he must be selfish and greedy for wanting to be with jisung.

But then he felt a heavy body throw themselves at him. he caught felix with an “oomf” and held the younger boy to his chest.

Felix sniffled. “I was so worried hyung. After losing woojin so soon, and then we were going to lose you too. Hyunjin, jeongin and I were so lonely. I don’t like anybody else here, what was I going to do once you all were gone?”

Minho blinked down at felix, then he looked back up at hyunjin. Hyunjin smiled a wide smile at him. “you guys aren’t angry? That jisung saved me?”

Felix nuzzled his face into minho’s chest and gripped his shirt. “why would we be angry for jisung choosing to live the rest of his life with you? You two were literally meant to be together. Just seeing you two interact is entertaining.” Minho chuckled a little at that.

“we are still jealous that you get to annoy him for many more years without us, you bastard,” hyunjin laughed jokingly. He came over and kissed minho on his cheek. “I know jisung is your only priority now, but take care of the rest of them for us, yeah?”

Minho could hear his words get choked up in the back of his throat as he asked that. there’s a loneliness in his heart at the thought of never seeing his friends again. No, worse than that. of never seeing his _family_ again.

He maneuvered around felix who was still clinging to him and grabbed hyunjin around the waist to pull him in closer. He kissed his cheek back and connected their foreheads. “you don’t even have to ask jinnie. Seungmin and the others are practically an extension to jisung. They are just as much of my priority as he is. Plus jisung would beat my ass if I put his safety above theirs.”

Felix let out a muffled laugh against minho’s shirt. He sighed in content knowing changbin would at least have someone watching out for him when he was gone. The others don’t know it yet, but its going to be soon.

“don’t worry about us hyung. We will stay together until the end,” felix smiled up at him sadly.

Minho bit his lip, wanting to fix this. was it selfish of him to want felix and hyunjin to make the same mistakes he and woojin made? Beautiful mistakes that he would gladly redo over again. He knows jisung has thought the same thing for seungmin and changbin, even if he didn’t say it. what kind of friend would jisung be if he let his own best friend live out his long life alone while he himself is happy with minho? Minho knows those thoughts are raging inside jisung’s head.

But this is no simple matter. This was literally breaking the laws of the universe, and minho would be lying if he said that didn’t scare him a little. He saw what happened to his parents. What if that same thing happened to jisung and himself? the responsibility the cherished have now is too much. Not only do they have to worry about their own lives, but the life of another person as well. That cant be an easy thing to grasp, knowing your well being is literally life or death for another person. Normal people would be scared of that kind of commitment.

So he kept his mouth shut and hugged hyunjin and felix a little tighter. Its not his place to ask something like that to them. its not his right to interfere in their lives or pressure them by giving them unwanted ideas in their heads. each daemon copes with their looming death in their own way.

Everything will work out in the end.

_Right?_

***

“tell me jeongin, how close is jisung to seungmin? I know they are both cherished that have been friends for a while now, but how much do they share with each other?”

Jeongin tilted his head, not expecting the question when he walked into Park’s office.

“honestly sir? They are very close. They share everything with each other, for the most part.” Jeongin shrugged, trying to be vague. He wasn’t sure where his boss was going with this.

Park frowned. “if they are as close as you say, then it wouldn’t be unlikely if jisung tries to get seungmin to stay happy by his side for the rest of his life,” he muttered.

“Sir?” jeongin slightly caught the last part of his sentence. He watched Park closely as the older male fiddled with a pen at his desk, deep in thought.

“and changbin and chan?” park asked.

Jeongin kept a neutral face, definitely alert at the strange way he was interested in jisung and his cherished friends. “they…are also close to jisung,” he hesitated.

Park nodded, looking up at jeongin. “seungmin, changbin, and chan need to be protected. Since whoever attacked them started at the hospital, I want to put my focus there right now. We cant get other civilians involved in this mess. What does their schedules look like?”

Jeongin stayed silent for a moment, something not feeling right. But he had to answer.

“uhhh…seungmin usually works any shift given the day. Most of the time he stays until night shift. Hes very unpredictable. Changbin and chan have set store hours, so they are easier to track down.”

Park nodded. “I see. Thank you, we will look more into it. meanwhile just keep an eye on them for me. You are dismissed.”

Jeongin bowed, and turned towards the door. Before leaving, he heard a soft mumble under Park’s breath.

“we don’t have much time before the rest of them do something equally as stupid as jisung.”

Jeongin bit his lip and hurried after his hyungs, a panicked feeling in his gut.

***

Seungmin just finished his rounds for the afternoon when his supervisor approached him. he sagged tiredly, but placed a strained smile on his face.

“ah seungmin! could I talk to you for a second?”

Seungmin nodded and walked over slowly, already knowing what he was going to ask.

“it turns out one of our night shift doctors caught a cold and had to call in sick. We need someone to take over his shift. Are you available?”

Seungmin pursed his lips. He was really tired and didn’t feel like taking the night shift. But lately, for a while now, he didn’t feel comfortable staying in his apartment alone at night. Part of the reason was because of that one time he saw someone taking pictures of him while walking back from chan’s during his lunch break, but the other part was because he hates the quiet and emptiness when he returns. He doesn’t know when it started, but it has gotten worse.

He knows he’s being silly, but he cant help it. he hasn’t voiced his worries to jisung or the others, not wanting to bother them with something that was just all in his head.

Seungmin nodded his head to his supervisor. “yeah I can take a shift tonight.”

His boss beamed at him. “excellent! Thank you so much! Of course you will be compensated for your hard work and time you put into this hospital. See you in the morning!”

and then seungmin watched as he walked away. He sighed, running a hand through his hair tiredly. He hasn’t been getting much sleep recently. He was starting to feel like chan, although even chan has been looking well rested lately for some reason.

He glanced out of the window, watching as dark clouds started to form in the sky. He supposes it’s a good thing he’s staying indoors tonight anyways. The weather has been shitty lately.

He turned away from the windows and headed towards the bathroom in the hopes of rinsing some of the sleep from his face. no patient wants to see their doctor looking worse than them.

Luckily he was by himself in the restroom. As he splashed water onto his face, a sick feeling came to him.

_Oh no._

His eyes glowed a wine red color, and he hurdled over clutching his head. Images flashed really fast under his eyelids. He tried to control his breathing as he let the pictures flood through his mind. He wishes someone was there to keep him grounded while this happened, but instead he just braced himself in a crouch on the floor, uselessly holding his head.

It took several minutes before the predictions were over with. He gasped, his vision returning and the glow in his eyes dimming back to his normal brown. Sweat formed across his forehead and at the back of his neck. Despite this, he shivered all over. He forced himself to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth.

This vision wasn’t like all of the others he’s had before. It was different this time. He saw himself in the hospital, running from something.

Tonight, he was going to die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Find You" by Nick Jonas
> 
> I used this song as reference to how jisung must have felt, being able to see minho's memories for all of those months but not being able to remember just who it was he was looking for.


	21. Not an update: bonus

hello my loves!

unfortunately this is not an update. whenever im gone for more than a few days i like to give out spoilers to look forward to until i come back~

as im getting closer to the end of my midterms and school semester, they are piling on the work! but dont worry, im taking care of myself and focusing on my studies!

so here are some things to look forward to when im finally on break and have free time:

-this coming May, expect the return of my first fanfic of skz "A Glitch" part 2! im sorry for the long wait to everyone who reads it. as you know, it has A LOT of plot and other kpop characters in it, so i wanted to wait until my semester of classes was over with. i wish to put all my focus on it because i love writing that one so much and i didnt want to rush anything as it comes to an end <3

-A new skz fan fic is on its way! I like to jump from story to story whenever im in the mood, so i thank you to everyone who is patient with me and waits as i update different fics at different times. Expect this fic to also be started up in May.

-The first half of "It's In My Blood" only has about 2-3 more chapters to go! of course you all know seungjin and changlix are next, so im not even spoiling anything~ im sorry about that cliffhanger in the last chapter lol. the next chapter will be up as soon as my midterms are done this week~ The second half will be started up again after my finals which is at the end of April. 

-And lastly, below is an exclusive teaser to my new stray kids fic! This is going to be the first chapter, so keep a look out in May when i post it. However! This is the roughest draft ever, so some small details might change by the time i officially post it. This time around, I'm going for a stray kids mythical creatures theme~ I tell you what half of them are right up front, but you're going to have to guess and wait to know what the others are~

Also, im letting everyone know that I can type pretty fast, close to 4k words in an hour or two. so i promise you that i am not overworking myself when i write. whenever i get stressed from everyday life, i take an hour or two to just write which helps me cope. in those few hours, i have like 2 or 3 chapters down, so as you can guess i have a ton of stuff archived already. i've had this first part of the fic pretty much written for almost a month now.

And as a side note, I like to listen to music a lot which inspires all of my writing. the different types of music influence what kind of theme/mood i want for my fics. I've been listening to a lot of traditional korean, chinese, and japanese music that helped inspire this next one.

so please enjoy this really rough draft of the first chapter of my third cliche stray kids fanfic that im excited to start in May lol:

_________

“Do it. Kill me,” chan taunted him, his wounds causing him to heave and cough against the ground he was pinned to. His vision was blurry and he felt so parched. The rain continued to pour down on his face, blending with the blood on his arms and running through the soil beneath him.

He kept still as he chuckled humorlessly, trying not to cause any more unnecessary pain to his arms. He looked up at woojin, a snarky smirk on his lips.

“Come on~ What are you waiting for? Be the perfect little soldier that you’ve always been and get rid of me. Now’s your chance. All of us creatures of the night are bad right? We are disgusting monsters that don’t have a right to live,” he spat.

Woojin glared down at him with yellow eyes, a soft growl rumbling in his chest. He ignored his harsh words as he assessed chan’s situation. Chan was pale, even more than he usually is. Beautifully decorated knives coated in magic were stabbed through his wrists and being used to keep the vampire pinned to the ground, draining any energy he has left very slowly until there was nothing left of him. his dark blood was gently flowing from where the knives pierced his flesh and mixing with the broken flower petals that scattered the ground underneath him. the rain drenched both of them and he had to keep blinking the droplets from his delicate lashes.

Chan was in bad shape. He lay there, rain splashing against him, an enchanted bejeweled knife stabbed into each arm and his breaths coming slower by the minute. The blood red flower petals that were scattered around him and broken from the storm contrasted with his light hair in a way that made the grotesque manner in which he was left here to die seem almost beautiful.

He has never looked more stunning than he does in this moment.

Woojin shook some of the water from his hair. “why aren’t you healing? I thought vampires had extreme healing abilities, even better than werewolves.”

Chan snorted. “you aren’t very bright are you? You hunted me all this time, and you don’t even know what I’m like,” he accused the older male.

Woojin frowned. That wasn’t true. He’s been watching chan for ages. It may have looked like he was hunting him, but really he was fascinated by him. chan didn’t act like other vamps he’s killed.

“I’m dying woojin. I haven’t had fresh blood in ages, and I was too weak to take on all of your little friends at once. They figured you would like the killing blow, so they pinned me here with a mage’s daggers. Look at me now. What honor you have, getting to finish off a fresh bleeding and dying target. So just do us both a favor and make this quick,” he turned his head with a petty sniff, baring his neck in mock submission.

Woojin smirked slightly with amusement. “why haven’t you had any fresh blood?”

Chan snapped his attention back to woojin, his violet eyes gleaming in the rain. “Despite what you people think, I don’t like being a monster. I don’t like to take fresh blood forcefully. And even when my family offers me some of theirs, I still don’t feel comfortable with it. I never asked to be this way, I just am.”

Woojin’s features softened. Ah, that explains why he looks so tired all of the time, like he will keel over any second. If he was this strong while half starving, then what was he like at full strength?

“Your family? Are they like you?”

Chan blinked up at him, suspicious as to why the wolf wants to know. But the look in woojin’s eyes spoke something to him.

“Creatures of the night? Yes. Vampires like me? No.” his piercing gaze softened, almost tearing up at the thought of never seeing them again. He looked to woojin with a watery gaze that blended with raindrops. “Please. if im going to die, I must ask you to spare my little ones. They never did anything wrong. Once im gone, your kind will go after them. They know I have a coven here. Please, _please_ don’t hurt the little ones,” he begged quietly, letting the vulnerability show on his face.

Woojin looked back surprised at his change in demeanor. He saw the fear and care that showed when he talked about his family. Despite what chan thinks, woojin wasn’t completely like his kind.

Not everybody is evil. Not everybody is good. If woojin's kind can be corrupt, then why cant chan’s kind be honorable?

***

Seungmin leaned into hyunjin’s side, one arm wrapped around his waist and the other over his chest to his shoulder. Hyunjin’s arm was also around seungmin’s waist. They stood there together at the edge of the forest, where the sun couldn’t touch them. They were two beautiful beings that blended into the darkness casted by the leaves of the trees. they had a dangerous glint to their eyes.

Mischievousness, something jeongin knows he should never go near.

“oh my, hyunjinnie,” seungmin giggled with a smirk on his face. “what do you think we should do with him?” his low musical voice carried throughout the quiet morning, the dawn starting to peak over the mountains and lighten the sky. Bright red slashed across the sky in harsh cuts.

It was said that the red skies brought an omen to whoever lay under it.

Jeongin shivered, not from his wounds, but from the interest the dark haired boys have shown in him. his voice echoed from the edge of the forest to where jeongin was slumped on the ground in the sun. the small bit of sunlight peaking over the red horizon was the only thing dividing him from the two mystical creatures before him.

It was ironic really. A small thin line like the sunlight separating two completely different worlds from one another. Light and dark.

Jeongin was told never to cross the line, never to enter the forest, for there were far more dangerous creatures he could ever imagine beyond that darkness.

But what could be worse than getting slashed across the chest and lain to die from your own best friend? Someone you trusted and admired? What was so great about his world of ‘day,’ when even in the light he continues to witness jealousy, destruction, and betrayal? The way jeongin sees it, the creatures of the day were the real monsters, not _them_.

“I don’t know seungminnie. He grew up to be a cute one, don’t you think?” hyunjin’s eyes flashed a dangerous glint in the reflection of the morning sun.

“Mmm, I want to keep him with us forever. Don’t you feel the same too, jinnie?” seungmin hummed.

Hyunjin nodded his head, hooking his finger under seungmin’s chin making the shorter boy look into his eyes. Jeongin almost glanced away. It was as if he was intruding on something intimate with the way they stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments.

Hyunjin spoke up, a calm voice reaching jeongin’s ears from across the field. “we’ve been kinda lonely, huh? He’s always been such an innocent little thing, hasn’t he?”

Seungmin licked his lips looking at his partner with lust in his eyes. “I want to take him home with us.”

Hyunjin giggled, leaning in to peck seungmin’s lips. “he’s ours now. You want to do the honors, sweetheart?”

Seungmin looked at him with glee, and detached himself from hyunjin’s side. He reached on his tip toes, pecking hyunjin’s lips in return. He then turned to jeongin, skipping across that line of darkness and into the light. He looked down at the boy with a curious expression.

“Oh my! Your hair is as black as a raven’s. its still beautiful, even after all of these years,” he sighed whimsically, reaching out and sliding his fingers through jeongin’s hair and letting it fall between his fingertips.

Jeongin tried not to flinch, unsure of what was going to happen to him. “H-how are you able to come into the light?” he asked.

Seungmin laughed, understanding his implication. “those were just myths we spread to keep the humans off our trail. We can go anywhere we like. Don’t you remember?” he bent down with his head tilted to the side, getting a closer look at jeongin and reaching into his clothes for something.

After a few moments of examining the state jeongin was in, he finally spoke again. Jeongin wanted to squirm under the intense stare he gave him. “You’re dying young boy. your life on this world is almost over. Would you like to start a new one with us?”

Jeongin shook his head frantically, panicking. Seungmin leaned in and reached over, then dabbed at his dirt and blood stained cheek tenderly with a handkerchief that was decorated with red flowers. For some reason it seemed familiar to jeongin.

then seungmin pouted. “aw why not? me and hyunjinnie have been so lonely for so long. We’ve been waiting for you to come along with us.”

“Me? Why?” jeongin asked, curious despite himself, the red flowered cloth forgotten.

“we don’t usually like humans. But we like _you_ ,” he laughed.

***

“I need an object to tie me to this world. Something to keep me grounded in this dimension. But this object can’t be just anything, it has to be something special. It has to be something you hold dear. It has to be something that connects me to you. Nobody can know what this object is, for if they take it away they can destroy or control me. I would be severed from you, destroying you.” He leaned closer into felix’s face. “What is your object?”

Felix thought about it, playing with the long earring in his ear and staring deep into the demon’s eyes. This is the demon who has protected him since he was little. He knows it was changbin who has been watching over him from the shadows his whole life. he knows it was changbin who saved him when he was younger. Felix would be dead if it wasn’t for him.

Felix stopped playing with the dreamcatcher earring that had once belonged to the demon and smiled a bright smile, his eyes crinkling into crescents. He leaned in close to changbin meeting him halfway, and then cupped his hand as he whispered into the demon’s ear. His mind was made up, and he knew what his object was going to be.

Changbin listened, his brows lifting in surprise and shock.

“Are you absolutely sure that is your object that connects me to you? You can’t undo what has already been done,” he warned felix quietly.

Felix nodded, his eyes burning a blue gaze into the demon, the air charging with the thick scent of his magic. “that is my object I wish to tie you to me.”

Changbin watched the pretty blonde for a few more moments. Then he dipped his head down into a small bow.

“then cast your spell mage, and make it so that we share one entity.”

Felix closed his glowing eyes and began singing, humming to changbin in the tongue of demons. The demon could hear it over the constant pounding of the drums in his mind. It was a gentle and sad melody that called out to him. who was he to deny such a heart wrenching tune? He was drawn to the voice and didn’t want to escape. He reached forward and connected his hand with the mage’s, interlocking their fingers and letting his words drown out the sounds around him. he ignored the warnings that plagued him, haunting him with promises that this might be a mistake.

Felix’s magic swirled in waves and wrapped itself around changbin’s body. The demon could taste it on his tongue, a lingering flavor of flowers. It truly was the most potent he’s ever encountered here in this world.

_“You who was once a withering flower, petals dyed crimson and dancing in the wind._

_They whispered to me words I cannot forget._

_Will you recognize yourself again?_

_Will you look back and remember me?_

_You who is a blooming demon._

_Look at me now, eyes that burn a fire within._

_Will you sever our inevitable destiny,_

_Or wield a piercing blade through my chest and seal our fates?_

 

_You who will blaze like the sky at dawn,_

_Grab ahold of me and consume my heart._

_Bind me to you so all I see is red._

_Will you stay with me until the flowers wither?_

_Will you stay with me until the end of time?”_

 

_***_

Minho stepped foot through the veil into the other world, glancing around him. the sky above him was overcast with clouds, giving the place a mystic look about it. it must have rained recently, for everything was covered with a soft blanket of water droplets. He was in some kind of forest. There were plants and vegetation on all sides of him, any hopes of a path or trail to follow quickly diminished.

It was quiet, the air charged heavily with magic. whoever lived here in this side of the void was quite powerful. Normally minho would become weakened right away from stepping into this place, but the thick magic around him prevented him from feeling the effects of the void just yet.

Minho could taste the magic on his tongue. It wasn’t an angry magic. it felt kind of warm and serene, like the rain on a summer's night. It seeped into minho’s cold bones, allowing him to draw strength from it. he inhaled deeply, letting it coat the back of his throat and settle onto his skin, almost as if it was cradling him.

Minho walked through the forest, searching for what he came here for. He followed the magic to the place it was most strong and potent. he finally made way to a small clearing and stepped out of the forest. Before him was a small cottage, almost like the one he has back in his own world. More trees and plants surrounded it, hiding it from view in its own secret little place.

He gently pushed away more brush and the damp leaves that were obstructing some of his view of the cottage. Water droplets fell off the plants from his actions. But right before touching the ground, they stopped in midair and reversed themselves, falling up towards the sky. Minho watched them with a curious expression as they went back up into the darkening clouds.

He coughed. The void was starting to weaken him. continuing to hurry this up and finish what he came to do, he approached near the cottage. Instead of heading to the front door, he went around the side towards the back.

The air started to become damp and misty, heavy with the scent of rain approaching. The clouds blocked the sun, rendering it unable to shine down on the small clearing and forest surrounding it. A warm rain began to fall again as he turned the corner and arrived at the back of the cottage. But right before the raindrops could touch the earth, they reversed at the last second and returned back to the sky like before. The contrast between the rain falling and it returning to the clouds above was almost dizzying. In a way it was heartbreaking, watching the rain just coat everything around it except for the grass beneath his feet. almost as if the earth would never get the chance to feel the rain again.

It didn’t stop him from becoming drenched though. His thin black shirt and pants clung to his skin, and his ash brown hair stuck to his forehead. He flicked his bangs out of his eyes to see better in the rain.

The back of the cottage was of a more traditional style, with a screen door and hanging roof to step out under. It would have been perfect to stand under the extended roof in this rain so that he wouldn’t get wet.

He grumpily trespassed into the backyard of the cottage, pushing some more bushes and plants out of his way. As he came closer to the source of this place's magic, he stopped in his tracks.

There before him, just out of reach of the shelter the cottage’s overhanging roof could have provided him from the rain, was a boy about his age.

He was…breathtaking.

He stood under the warm rain, his hand reaching to the sky. He let the rain fall on his outstretched palm and travel down his tan and smooth arm, watching as the droplets reversed themselves before being able to touch the ground.

He wore a red silk robe with beautiful red flowers. it fell to the ground and draped across the earth beneath his feet, too big for his slender frame. It was open and loose, hanging off his shoulders and arms to reveal a simple black shirt and pants with black boots underneath. It was a strange combination of fashion, being a mix between modern clothes and traditional Japanese robes.

Minho could only see the side profile of his face. His hair was somewhat dark and on the longer side, his bangs falling into his eyes. Minho had the strange urge to brush them away from his forehead. He was soaked like minho, but he didn’t seem to mind as he let the water drip off the tips of his hair. a couple of silver earrings hung from his ears.

Like his hand, his face and eyes were to the sky, a lonely and gentle smile taking over his lips. The raindrops rested against his eyelashes and across his cheeks.

Weirdly enough, minho wanted to kiss them away.

Curious about the strange boy in front of him, he called over.

“what are you reaching towards?” minho asked him, his natural voice soothing and musical to the ears. It was a voice that souls were often drawn to, a melodious sound that comforted them before departing from the world of the living.

The boy let his raised hand fall to his side, turning to face minho completely. Minho sucked in a breath at what he saw through the rain.

“A place far away from here,” the captivating boy answered him simply.

“You mean the mortal world?”

Instead of answering, the boy looked back up to the sky. “It must be raining in that world. I wonder, is the rain still just as beautiful over there as it is over here?”

Minho furrowed his brows at the strange question. “Uhh I guess? But the water doesn’t fall backwards. Why does it do that here?”

Again, the boy didn’t answer his question directly. It started to irritate minho. He was never a patient person. Hell, he didn’t even want to be here to begin with.

“This place. It’s a mirror of the other world. A parallel world some may call it. In the void, time here is endless.” He closed his eyes, letting the warm rain continue to wash over him.

Minho could feel his body start to ache from the void’s magic. He needs to get what he came here for and be done with it. “So who the hell are you?” he cut in rudely, impatient to leave.

The boy snapped his eyes open and looked to minho. “who the hell are _you_?” he shot back, almost playful.

“I asked you first,” minho responded stubbornly.

“I asked you second,” he replied. He continued to stare at minho with an unwavering gaze, refusing to say anything more.

A small smile of amusement creeped into the corners of minho’s lips. He gave in to the boy and introduced himself first. He was almost sure this is the person he came looking for.  

“Lee Minho. Former grim reaper.”

The boy’s eyes softened, an understanding dawning on his face. “Ah. That would explain the remnants of timeless energy surrounding you. My name’s Han Jisung.”

Excellent. This was the person he needs to retrieve. “I’ve come to look for you, Han Jisung. Chan wants me to bring you back to the mortal world.”

Jisung quirked his head to the side in thought, studying minho through the rain and making no move to leave. He locked eyes with minho, gazing at him for a long time. It made minho almost uncomfortable. For some reason he didn’t like his all-knowing stare.

Finally jisung spoke again. “The void. It weakens you the longer you stay here, even though it shouldn’t affect a grim reaper. Tell me something, reaper. Why did you seal your scythe away? Why revive the clock and let it tick down your timeline once again?”

Before minho could even process his words, jisung started humming a tune only he could hear. He closed his eyes in bliss as he continued the melody. “Your time. I can _hear_ it. It sounds beautiful. It’s louder than any that I have heard before. I want to wrap it around me so that I can keep it close. Maybe then I won’t feel so lonely on days like this.”

Minho blinked the droplets of rain from his lashes, unsure of what to make of this boy. the words coming from his lips sounded crazy, but oddly made sense. Just what was he?

Minho could feel himself getting a little bit weaker, the void finally pushing him to his limit.

Jisung stopped humming and opened his beautiful eyes to minho. “I can’t go back reaper. I’m sentenced to remain here, alone. Only the sounds of the clock can keep me company.”

What sounds? From what minho could tell, there were no clocks around this place.

“Look, I don’t have the patience for this, kid. Chan wants you back, and he’s gonna ream me a new one if I come back empty handed,” he snapped, sounding winded from the force of the void starting to claim back what little magic minho had left.

Unaffected by minho’s grumpiness, jisung walked closer until he was just inches away from him. he blinked up at minho, smiling a sad smile. Minho looked down at his soft brown eyes clashing with the red of his silk robe. Irritation was still written all over minho’s face as he glared down at jisung.

“Hmm, I kind of like you.” Jisung closed his eyes again, leaning forward and tilting his head to the side so that his ear was resting against minho’s chest, right on his thin wet shirt over his heart. The rain continued to pelt down on them as they stood there in silence for a few moments.

Minho stiffened, his body tensing from the intrusion to his personal space. He tried hard not to back away at the sudden contact, fearing he would upset jisung, preventing him from bringing the strange boy back with him to the mortal world.

Still, he was never one for niceties. “What do you think you are doing?” he hissed out between his teeth. How dare this boy get so close to a grim reaper? Even if he was no longer a reaper, few people ever approached him.

Instead of backing away, jisung smiled against minho’s chest, pressing his ear even closer to his heart. He started humming again, causing minho to feel the tune of his voice vibrating against his skin over the sounds of the rain.

“I’m _listening_. Your time, it truly is the most lovely lullaby I have ever heard. I want to listen to it forever.”

“My ‘time’? What does that even mean?!” minho questioned, getting annoyed with this kid’s short attention span. It was like talking to a brick wall, and he was getting nowhere with him.

Resisting the urge to shove jisung off of him, he spoke above his humming. “Look, you’re coming with me whether you like it or not-”

Jisung abruptly stopped humming, cutting off minho’s rant. He suddenly stood up straight, stepping away backwards from minho slowly with a frown on his face. Minho almost missed the warmth of the boy, the cold of the rain and void’s magic seeping back into his bones.

After a few long stretched out seconds, he softly said to minho, “I will be counting down the seconds until we meet again, reaper. We will see each other once more, but not until the camellias wither.”

Minho looked at him with confusion and like he was insane. “What?”

And then a gentle alarm sounded somewhere, a distant and insistent beeping filling minho’s ears and drowning out the calming sound of the rain spattering against the trees and bushes.

“Time’s up.” Jisung’s voice echoed louder than the alarm and rain, filling the void around them, almost sounding sad that minho was leaving him alone again.

Minho blinked, and then he was back in his world, resting in the chair of his cottage he was in before he left for the void. He was soaked to the bone, the water dripping from his body and splashing onto the wooden floorboards of his home.

Only this time, the water droplets stayed on the ground leaving a small puddle to gather at his feet.


	22. I'm So Alive

Jeongin swiftly opened the door, stepping in and closing it.

Minho looked up, followed by felix and hyunjin. “jeongin? what did park want?”

Jeongin looked at his hyungs, wringing his hands slightly in worry. “not much, he just wanted to know more about the cherished’s schedules and where they would be during the day and night. Specifically seungmin, changbin, and chan.”

Felix’s head perked up, frowning. “binnie?”

“and seungmin?” hyunjin asked.

Jeongin ran a hand through his dark hair. “yeah, he said since the hospital was attacked first last year, we need to keep a closer eye on seungmin. His schedule is unpredictable, and he is always coming and going from the hospital making it hard to track him down.”

“why cant hyunjin just look after him again, but from out of sight? Hes the one that knows seungmin’s schedule the best,” minho supplied.

Jeongin shook his head. “for some reason he doesn’t want us interacting with them even more now. I think its because of you and jisung, hyung,” jeongin said, apologetically.

Minho huffed, feeling bad he made the situation worse.

“anyways, that’s not why I’m worried,” jeongin continued. “he asked about chan and changbin’s store hours. Then he was acting kind of strange.”

“strange how?” felix asked, suddenly getting tense. He doesn’t like it when people are stepping around changbin when they are not supposed to be.

“I don’t know, you guys might think im paranoid or crazy, and I really shouldn’t be talking about our boss like this,” jeongin nervously shifted on his feet, avoiding eye contact.

Minho stood up, brushing past felix and hyunjin. he laid a reassuring hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. “innie, I want you to know that our team doesn’t operate like the other teams here. We are more than just teammates, more than just friends. we are _family_. Woojin made it that way when he was the leader, and im continuing that even though I was demoted.” He chuckled at that. “even if it’s a crazy thought, even if it goes against everything we were taught, I want you to be able to freely say what is on your mind. With us, you wont be judged or punished.”

Jeongin relaxed and bit his bottom lip in worry. “something just didn’t seem right, hyung. He’s been looking a bit off lately. When I was leaving he muttered something about there not being enough time until the others do something just as stupid as jisung did. im assuming he means how you and jisung exchanged blood. That just doesn’t make sense.”

Felix also stood up wobbling a little and coming closer. “he better not bother binnie. Changbin has been living a normal life _perfectly fine_ without us all of this time. He has no idea about us, and we did everything park wanted us to do.”

Hyunjin grabbed felix’s hand, just in case he decided to march out of there and make a scene.

Jeongin looked over at felix. “I don’t think he plans on bothering them or anything. He’s probably just worried about you or hyunjin exchanging blood with them. Also, he’s been looking really tired these days from staying up late and coming up with ways to make sure they are guarded.”

“still…” felix huffed, linking his fingers with hyunjin to help calm himself down.

Minho ran a hand through his hair, looking tired. “what I don’t get is why he’s having such a hard time tracking down whoever is causing trouble. This hasn’t been that much of a problem in the past, so why now?”

Felix scoffed, “the real question is why he’s so damn determined not to let us exchange blood with a cherished. I mean, whats the big deal? If its consensual then I don’t see why its so wrong.”

Minho looked sad, “felix…”

Felix quickly cut him off, waving his hands quickly in front of him. “hyung, that’s not what I meant. I would never put binnie in a situation where he would have to give up his freedom like that for me. You know that we are all fine with our fates of death. We would never compromise a cherished like that. all im saying is that sometimes these things happen by accident, like with you and jisung, and if they do then whats the problem? Its not like you forced jisung to save you. It just happened that way. Park doesn’t have to be all bitchy about it. I just don’t like how he’s picking on you,” he looked down, mumbling the last part.

Minho smiled as he watched felix grumble under his breath about their leader. He looked cute with his pouty lips and pink hair. he can see now why even antisocial and hardass changbin never stood a chance.

Jeongin went to speak up, “I wish…” but then he closed his mouth, not finishing his sentence.

_I wish we could all be together for just a little while longer._

Hyunjin looked to him, curious about what he was going to say. He was going to ask, but then he started coughing, his body stinging and the fever slowly creeping in. He tried to cover it up as much as possible with his hand, but its been too long since he hasn’t been able to touch seungmin, or any cherished for that matter. The others looked at him with concern in their eyes, but he waved them off.

He knew if he asked, jisung would let him. perhaps a hug, or even holding hands. He was in such bad shape that he knows minho wouldn’t mind, even though minho is extremely possessive of what’s his. The reason hyunjin was able to hold off his death slightly longer was because he was near a cherished and their blessed blood. It satiated his cursed blood for some time, but then its been almost a year since the last time he was able to come into such close contact with a cherished.

If he was smart, he would take what he could get. Jisung was a really kind person and extremely affectionate. He would have no problems helping hyunjin out. even though hyunjin loves all of them with all of his heart, the thought of asking another cherished other than seungmin for skin on skin contact made him scrunch his nose a little in disgust. He’s pretty sure felix feels the same way with a certain other cherished.

No. If it cant be with seungmin, then what was the point of staying alive?

He brought his hand away from his mouth, hiding the spots of blood that gathered in his palm.

He smiled with a look of content on his face, it almost made him laugh hysterically. _The_ glamorous hyunjin. Picture perfect, looked like he came out of a magazine, can walk down any runway wearing the ugliest clothes and still look better than everyone in the room. His face was flawless, his personality that of an angel, he was athletic and tall. He can have any person he wants, but no one was ever good enough. There was no one that caught his eye.

Of course it would be just his luck that he would finally fall in love with the one person he could never have. And he doesn’t mean its because seungmin is a cherished and he’s cursed and all that forbidden shit. He means he doubts that seungmin would ever feel anything more than friendship for him even if his memories weren’t erased. For once in his life, he couldn’t get the one person that he wanted the most.

How ironic. Hyunjin has it all, but why does it feel like he’s nothing without seungmin? his life and dreams mean nothing without a certain goody-two shoes, adorable puppy smile, green tea drinking doctor to share it with.

To hyunjin, seungmin could never be replaced.

So he curled his bloody palm into a fist, focused on not passing out in front of his friends, and worked on breathing for another day.

***

“you’re coming over tomorrow, right seungminnie?” jisung pouted in the phone. He was bored out of his skull at chan and woojin’s place, waiting for minho to get back. He was currently lying upside down off of chan’s couch, kicking his legs up in the air.

Seungmin hesitated.

Jisung sat up and whined, “minnie, you promised that on your next day off we would get to hang out!”

_“yes, yes. I will be over tomorrow night…”_

Jisung clicked his tongue at the younger boy. “why do you not sound very convincing? And why the hell would you take the night shift at the hospital again?! You’re going to be too tired tomorrow to pay attention to me!”

Seungmin chuckled, although it sounded a little sad to jisung. _“I never pay enough attention to you anyways. This is why you need to get a boyfriend. Im getting too old to deal with this shit,”_ he said affectionately.

Jisung gulped. Oh right. Seungmin doesn’t know about minho yet. Or the fact that jisung is kinda gonna be living with him for the next 500 years. He wanted to tell seungmin _so bad_. But minho, chan and woojin all made him swear to not say a word. It was for their own good.

He hated doing the right thing.

“uh yeah…ill work on getting a boyfriend. Who knows, maybe one day someone will come up to me and proclaim their undying love and loyalty and promise to protect and cherish me for the rest of my life,” jisung ranted on a tangent with an ironic laugh.

Seungmin snorted, _“and where in the hell are you going to find someone like that?_ I _can barely stand your bullshit, and im your bestfriend,”_ he joked.

“hey! Its possible! there just might be a really handsome dancer out there who matches really well with me!”

Seungmin burst out laughing on the other end. Jisung didn’t have it in him to be mad, he was just glad his friend was starting to show a little bit of his old personality again. _“right! As if some totally hot dancer would just show up out of nowhere and be like ‘jisung, I would gladly lay down my life for you.’ Jisung honey, we don’t live in some cliché romance. We aren’t in one of those teen movies where a new guy ‘moves in next door’ and then you two fight but then end up falling in love. Boringgggg.”_

Jisung was quiet, starting to sweat. That sounded awfully familiar. Did seungmin subconsciously remember a little bit of the past? He shook his head. Maybe he was just imagining things.

“no fair seungmin! you don’t have to be so mean to me!”

_“just telling it like it is, jisungie.”_

Then jisung heard some beeping in the background, machines going off indicating that a patient was crashing and needed medical attention.

 _“looks like my break is over. I’ll…see you tomorrow,”_ seungmin told him, then hung up.

Jisung sighed, a twisting feeling settling in his gut.

***

“hey hyung? Can I talk to you for a minute?” hyunjin asked minho quietly. They were all still in their conference room, just talking and discussing upcoming things. it really has been too long since they all just sat together. Minho just wishes woojin could join them finally.

“sure hyunjinnie, what is it?” minho looked up from his phone. He smiled slightly at the texts jisung had been bombarding him with, saying something how seungmin is ‘on to them’. He pocketed his phone and gave hyunjin his full attention.

Hyunjin bit his lip, laying his head down on the table and facing minho. “do you ever _feel_ jisung? Now that you’re anchored?”

Minho looked at him curiously. “it depends. What exactly do you mean by ‘feel’?”

Hyunjin sighed, rubbing his chest. “its just…sometimes I think I can feel seungmin. its like a low buzz, urging me to go to him. at first I didn’t really realize it because I was with him the whole time, but every once in a while, it just feels like he’s there and I should go and find him.”

Minho’s features softened. “ah I see now. You gave seungmin some of your blood a while back, right?”

Hyunjin nodded. “just a little bit. I wanted him to be able to call me in case anything happened.”

“to answer your question, yes I can feel jisung. We exchanged blood, so we are anchored to each other now. The way that the bond works…its kind of hard to describe. I am dependent on jisung’s life. if he dies, I die. However, jisung is not dependent on my life. if I die before him, all that would happen is our bond is severed, and he can just replace me with a new cursed. We are simply shields for the cherished, born to protect them.”

Felix perked up. “we already know that hyung.”

Minho pouted, “let me finish. I was born to protect jisung. When I gave him my blood, that was my eternal promise to protect _only_ him. I started half of the process to anchor myself to him. you did the same to seungmin, and felix to changbin. you each swore to protect only those specific blessed people. So whenever those cherished think about you really strongly, you will feel them through that half link.”

Felix sighed. “I kind of get what you are saying, but at the same time I don’t get it.”

“whenever jisung thinks about me, like _really_ thinks about me, I can feel it. its like an inner alarm going off in my body that something is wrong with my cherished and that I need to go to them. If his emotions are running strongly, I can sense it. it only started happening when I gave him my blood though.”

Hyunjin frowned. “so does that mean seungmin was thinking about me? But his memories are erased..”

Minho tilted his head in thought. “when did it happen?”

Hyunjin sighed, “when we first left them, I felt this buzzing feeling in my body every now and then. Then as the months went by, it went away. But today…I can feel it again.”

“oh! Me too! I felt that at first too! I always _knew_ binnie was just pretending to be annoyed with me,” felix giggled sadly, but then his smile faded. He hasn’t had that kind of feeling in a long time, meaning changbin hasn't thought about him in a while.

Minho nodded. “I think that’s seungmin. his emotions must be running high right now. He could be stressed or worried about something, he’s a doctor after all. As for whether he’s thinking about you, im not sure. I can tell you right now that jisung is feeling a bit restless and agitated at the moment.”

Jeongin rolled his eyes. “jisung is always restless and agitated. You probably forgot to say goodbye to him or something dumb like that.”

Hyunjin snorted. That was highly likely.

“anyways,” minho huffed, “as soon as we are gone…that partial bond severs and the cherished just move on with their lives without a care in the world.”

Hyunjin and felix frowned, looking down at the table.

“I miss woojin hyung,” felix said, finally coming to terms that he doesn’t have very long left with the others.

He missed the way jeongin and minho glanced at each other from across the table.

***

Seungmin ground his teeth as rain fell from the sky and darkness took over. It was officially past midnight and the hospital was quiet. The patients were sleeping, the hall lights were dimmed, and there were very few staff left for the night shift.

He tried to remain calm, recognizing that the surroundings of his vision were slowly coming true. He has been high strung all day, nerves wracking his body. It was hard to stay normal in front of jisung on the phone earlier. He would have told his friend what he saw, but he didn’t want to freak jisung out. knowing his luck, jisung would try and stop the vision from coming true and also getting himself hurt.

Seungmin would never let that happen. No, it was better that he deals with this alone. He would have liked to say goodbye one last time, but he knew jisung would sense something was wrong.

His gifts were truly worthless. Even to the last moment, he couldn’t save a single person dying from his visions. Not even himself.

The hospital he worked at was small, but it had multiple floors. He took the stairway to one of the other floors he needed to cover for the night. As he held onto the railing in the empty and dim stairway, a sick feeling came to him. recognizing what was happening, he braced himself and sat on a stair.

His hand held tightly onto the railing and he squeezed his eyes shut. He whimpered slightly at the onslaught of images, trying to focus on his breathing and wishing someone could be there to hold him through it.

When the vision was over with, he gasped. It took him a few moments, but once he was able to stand again his body urged him to move, _now_.

Down the stairwell he heard someone click the door open and then shut. Seungmin didn’t waste a single second.

He ran up the stairs as fast as he could. _He saw it_. just bits and pieces of it, but he saw it. someone was going to kill him in a few minutes. He doesn’t know how it happens, but in his vision he was on the highest floor of the hospital where no patients currently were.

He didn’t want to get anybody else involved, so he ran up the stairs to the 5th floor. It was empty, only used when certain patients needed to be kept in isolation.

He couldn’t help his dress shoes from making noise, and he distantly heard footsteps following him up the many staircases. His breathing became labored, because hello? He was a doctor, not a mountain climber. So he ditched his itchy ass long white coat and tried to full on sprint the last few steps. If he stopped now, there was no getting back up. he really should have worked out more with jisung and the others.

When he made it to the 5th floor, he slammed the stairway door shut and ran down the hallways of the hospital trying to find a place to hide. His shoes squeaked and echoed in the dark hallway, and he heard rain continuing to pelt the glass windows that lined the patient’s rooms. He swiftly turned into one of the rooms at the end of the hallway and shut the door as quietly as he could. He grabbed the IV pole used for patients and tried to block the door with it.

He stepped back and snorted obnoxiously. _like that's going to keep anybody out_. he was trapped on the top floor in a patient's room with someone trying to kill him, the only thing saving him being a useless piece of medical equipment.

He ran to the glass window looking down the 5 stories through the rain. He gulped.

It was a long way down.

Seungmin chewed on his lip, debating what to do. he could hear the footsteps outside getting closer, and he clamped a hand on his mouth to quiet his breathing, still out of breath from the sprint up the stairs. The footsteps slowed down, checking the rooms as they passed. Almost as if his killer knew that seungmin had no where to go. They knew they had all the time in the world to get to him. he always knew he and the others were special in some way, and that chan often prevented things from happening. But he still hates the fact that he is in the dark as to what is going on.

As the footsteps neared and almost stopped outside his door, he realized he was out of time and options.

With a determined glare, he grabbed a chair with metal legs and walked calmly to the window. He stared back at himself through the glass, his eyes glinting red in its reflection.

Seungmin was a pretty straight forward and simple minded person.

If he was going to die, it was going to be on his own terms.

Taking a deep breath, he slammed the chair against the window as hard as he could. Once, twice, three times.

_God dammit, this was way cooler looking in the movies._

After the fourth hit, the glass shattered slightly.

He snorted at that. typical shitty hospital. He should be thankful they weren't up to date on sturdier glass for their windows. He kicked the remaining panels out, wind and rain whipping his hair and splattering his face. he always hated this damn hospital.

He stepped up and onto the ledge of the window, turning his head towards the door. Someone was trying to get in, no doubt hearing his pathetic attempt to break a giant glass window. He watched as the metal IV pole started to shake. He has no more than 10 seconds before whoever the fuck was after him budged that door open.

Looking down to the ground, he laughed a bit manically.

So this is how he goes. Jumping off the top floor of a hospital he hated working for. Great. He has no good memories of this place, nobody he enjoyed spending time with besides jisung.

_Right?_

He gripped the edges of the window panel, cutting his hands from the remaining broken glass. He stepped so close to the edge that the tips of his shoes peeked over. He squeezed his eyes shut at what he was about to do.

Jisung was _so_ going to yell at him in the afterlife. If they ever see each other again.

But honestly? Seungmin has seen the horror movies, he knows what comes next if he doesn’t do this. and from his visions, it didn’t look like it was going to be a pretty death.  Surely this was the easier way out.

Seungmin opened his eyes through the rain and looked down. before he stepped off the edge, a whisper curled around him, blocking out the howling wind.

_"If you ever are in danger, call my name. I'll always come to you, no matter where you are. Always."_

What was his name?

It was a soft, calm voice. Something pricked at his memory. He knows this voice, but why can’t he remember?

The doors slammed open, falling off their hinges. Seungmin didn’t have time to think about it anymore. The rain drenched his clothes and the wind messed up his hair. still, he didn’t hesitate.

_It’s like ripping off a band-aid. Quick and easy._

He took a step forward into the air like he was walking his next step on solid ground, and then tipped forwards, holding a scream in the back of his throat.

There was something morbid about watching yourself fall closer to death, but he couldn’t look away. In those few moments, his mind wandered.

_“I’ll always come to you, no matter where you are. Always.”_

_“To me you are irreplaceable.”_

Those words echoed around him, crashing through his brain. Why did they seem so familiar?

Maybe it was due to the fact that his brain was working overdrive while dropping to his death, or maybe it was from the panic that settled into the pit of his stomach at the realization that he literally has like 3 seconds before he was dead. whatever the reason, a name formed at the tip of his tongue. “hyunjin,” he whispered as the ground came closer, his voice drowned out from the wind. He doesn’t know where that name came from. he doesn’t know anyone who is called that. however, a warm feeling overcame him, and he said it again. 

But nothing happened.

He squeezed his eyes shut and instantly brought his arms up to protect his face on reflex, like that was going to make a difference, and then braced himself for impact.

He was breathing hard, more out of panic than exertion. He prepared himself for unimaginable pain, but there was none.

He felt the rain, and the wind, and then he felt warm familiar arms wrap around his waist and swing him effortlessly so that he was cradled against a broad chest. He gasped out at the force of whoever just caught him. He peeked his eyes open, and looked up into the most beautiful face he’s ever seen. If he didn’t already have whiplash from diving to his death off of a building, he surely would have gotten it from the stunning view looking down at him with golden eyes.

The boy staring down at him was breathing heavily like he just ran a marathon. He was kneeling on the ground in the rain, holding seungmin up and close to him like he weighed nothing. he coughed a few times.

The look he was giving seungmin made his breath catch in his throat, and suddenly he felt really flushed and self conscious. Seungmin buried his head into the boy’s chest, wrapping his arms around his neck and trying to pull himself as close as possible while he calmed his shaking body down from the near-death experience he put himself through. He honestly was too shell shocked to do or say anything else, and he doesn’t think he’s going to be able to stand up for at least a few minutes.

They were both soaked with rain, and his clothes clung uncomfortably to his body, but still he didn’t want to let go, hugging the other boy in a death grip.

“am I dead? Because if this is heaven, then fuck going back to earth, that place is a shit hole,” he finally asked, his voice muffled against the shirt of the gorgeous boy holding him gently. He felt a rumble of laughter.

“no, unfortunately we are both still living. Well, for now,” he heard the same soft calm voice answering him. “even after all this time, you are still putting yourself in danger. I can’t leave you alone for a single second,” the hotter-than-a-desert boy lectured him.

Seungmin peeked up from his chest. “you talk as if you know who I am.”

He looked into seungmin's eyes with a soft gaze, bringing one of his hands up to brush away the mess of wet bangs that plastered itself to seungmin’s hair. “something like that. let’s just say, to me you are irreplaceable.”

Seungmin sucked in a breath, recognizing those words.

“hyunjin?” he called the boy, the name flowing off his tongue. Hyunjin stopped brushing his bangs aside, looking at seungmin with a shocked expression.

Seungmin knew for sure this was his name. “that’s your name, isn’t it? hyunjin? Why do I know your name, but don’t remember ever meeting you? Why do I feel safe with someone I have never met?”

Hyunjin coughed harshly, a little bit of blood coating his lips. He sat down completely on the ground then, no longer able to remain kneeling while holding seungmin. the fever has already taken over in the past few hours, seungmin’s touch no longer able to keep his cursed blood from killing him completely.

Seungmin noticed his struggle, and quickly shifted off of him so that he was kneeling next to hyunjin on the wet ground. He briefly glanced up at the window he broke, but it was too dark and stormy to see where his attacker went. Hopefully he went home after witnessing seungmin take a nose-dive to the dirt.

Hyunjin ignored his questions, bringing his hand up to cup seungmin’s cheek. “I felt something was wrong. You’ve known all day about your death, haven't you? Was it another vision? Is that why your emotions were all over the place?”

Seungmin sucked in a breath. Hyunjin just confirmed one of his suspicions. Yes, this boy knows him somehow. He nodded, answering hyunjin’s questions.

“thank god I made it in time. No offense, but you are no light weight, princess. Catching you almost took out what was left of my kidney. I could’ve popped a lung! Who in the hell jumps from a freaking 5 floor hospital in the dead of night?” hyunjin wheezed.

Seungmin glared over at him. “for your information, I don’t just jump off of buildings for shits and giggles. Someone was going to kill me! It was either be killed violently, or jump. I'd rather be crushed like a pancake, thank you very much.”

“but still, how could you just easily accept your death like that?” hyunjin argued. This boy was going to give him a heart attack before his own cursed blood kills him off.

Seungmin touched the hand that was still on his cheek. He resisted the urge to nuzzle his face into the warm palm. “what’s the point in living if im too scared to die?”

Hyunjin looked at him, not knowing how to answer that. that hit harder to home than seungmin realized.

Was hyunjin scared to die?

Yes. He will admit they all are a little afraid of death. But that isn’t what he’s truly scared of.

He brought seungmin closer, and placed his other hand on his other cheek, rubbing the cold raindrops away and staring deep into his eyes. Seungmin could feel his warm breath on his face as he talked.

“even if you aren’t scared to die, im scared for you. How do you think I would feel, knowing my precious cherished died before me? How do you think jisung and the others feel, watching you place yourself in danger all of the time without a care for your life? you aren’t a hero seungmin, you don’t have a heart of stone.” He placed his forehead against seungmin’s. “we care about you more than anything else in the world. _I_ care about you more than anything else in the world.” He bumped noses with seungmin, and seungmin secretly wished he would come a little closer.

“why?” seungmin whispered against hyunjin’s lips.

“you have no idea what you mean to me,” he whispered back, making seungmin’s heart pound out of his chest.

Then hyunjin started coughing again. Seungmin leaned over to rub his back, concerned that hyunjin was sick. “do you have some kind of medical condition? Being out in the cold rain can’t be good for you. This is like the third time you’re coughing. Don’t think I didn’t notice,” he said sternly, daring hyunjin to lie to him.

Hyunjin looked up at him with amber eyes. “ah, yeah just a small cold. We should probably get out of here anyways, in case whoever was after you comes back.” Hyunjin was too weak to take care of any more of these annoying bastards that keep coming and going after the cherished. and he didn’t want to leave them to jeongin by himself. “my friend. He’s waiting nearby. He can help me out.”

Seungmin nodded, grabbing hyunjin by the underarms and pulling him to his feet. despite seungmin’s help, hyunjin still could barely stand on his own two feet. what little bit of energy he had left was gone now after rushing over and exerting himself to catch seungmin from a five floor drop at top speed.

“ill take you to my place so that you can dry off and get out of the rain. It’s the least I can do for you helping me,” Seungmin explained. hyunjin nodded feeling a bit dizzy.

After walking down the street for some time, they turned the corner. “hyung!” jeongin ran up to them with worry on his face. he was also wet from the rain.

Seungmin stared at the boy for a second. “do I know you?”

Jeongin looked at hyunjin with a panicked expression. “uhhh…”

Seungmin huffed, “that right there answered my question. Obviously something is going on. But first let’s get hyunjin to my place. He doesn’t look so good, and I think he’s running a really bad fever.”

Jeongin looked at hyunjin with concern, noting that hyunjin was barely processing what was happening around him. The fact that he wasn’t making up any excuses in this situation meant that he has been way worse than he was letting on.

Jeongin _should_ call for help so that seungmin wouldn’t see him die. He _should_ make sure that seungmin didn’t come near hyunjin. He _should_ follow Park’s orders and make sure hyunjin never sees seungmin again.

Maybe his hyung’s rebel behavior was rubbing off on him. or maybe he’s always had it in him. maybe he just really loves his new family too much to let them go.

Perhaps it was all of those things, because instead he ignored all of his orders and helped seungmin get hyunjin to his place faster.

When they entered seungmin’s doorway, hyunjin finally collapsed onto the ground, no longer able to stand. His breathing started to sound ragged, and he held his side in pain.

Seungmin frantically ran his cool hands over hyunjin with expertise. “hyunjin? What's wrong? Did you hurt your side?”

He started to lift hyunjin’s shirt up, but hyunjin stopped him, his eyes glazed over and sweat mixed with his damp skin from the rain. He glanced down at seungmin’s hand in his, frowning at what he saw.

“im sorry. I was too out of it and it was dark. I didn’t notice you were hurt.”

Seungmin looked at hyunjin confused, and then looked down at his hands. “ah, they got cut from the broken windows before. Don’t worry about it.”

Hyunjin shook his head. “no, I cant live out my last few minutes knowing you were hurt because I wasn’t there for you sooner. At least let me do this one last thing. It will make me feel better.”

Seungmin had no idea what he was talking about, glancing to hyunjin’s friend for help.

Hyunjin bit his lip, then with all his strength he lifted his arm from the ground and wrapped it around seungmin’s neck, making the younger boy lean down startled.

Seungmin had no idea why a gorgeous and sick boy who miraculously caught him from a long drop was kissing him, but for once in his life he threw all caution out the window (he gagged at his own joke) and kissed him back.

But before he could even start to enjoy the feel of this boy’s perfect lips against his, hyunjin pulled away. Seungmin licked his lips, tasting blood.

“holy shit, are you bleeding?” seungmin went back into doctor mode, grabbing hyunjin’s chin and inspecting his face.

“had to heal you. I couldn’t let your pretty and gentle hands that take care of people scar up,” hyunjin whispered.

“huh?” seungmin looked down at his hands, and watched with bug eyes as they slowly healed themselves, leaving only the smudge of blood from before. “holy shit!”

Hyunjin collapsed to the ground, barely breathing.

Seungmin’s vision started to blur as his head began to hurt. He blinked away the pain and leaned down to inspect hyunjin. He was burning up, and his lungs seemed to be collapsing. He put his ear to hyunjin’s heart and noticed it barely beating.

He went to get up and get his emergency medical kit, but stumbled a little as memories started to swim by. “what the hell?” he softly cursed as he placed a hand to his head.

He took a knee next to hyunjin, unable to focus for several moments. Everything was starting to come back to him crystal clear. When the pain receded, he removed his hand to his head, looking at hyunjin, and then up at jeongin, recognition in his eyes.

Jeongin smiled weakly, not daring to move. “welcome back.”

Seungmin blinked, a million questions filling his mind. “jeongin, what the fuck did you guys do to me? No wait, don’t answer that. first I have to take care of hyunjin.”

He leaned down, inspecting him and muttering to himself. “if it’s a fever, he needs pain meds. If its an infection, he needs antibiotics. If it’s a wound I have to clean and patch him up. what’s the cause of this? where is the problem?”

Hyunjin rasped out, his eyes rolling to the back of his head, too much in pain to make any noise. The organs were already beginning to shut down.

For once in his medical career, seungmin started to panic.

“im a doctor. I should be able to fix him. what’s wrong with him?” seungmin asked jeongin helplessly. He tried thinking of everything, and still the once beautiful boy with life in his eyes continued to die before him. “he was perfectly fine when he caught me only 30 minutes ago. It is physically impossible to become this sick this fast. Why is he like this if he was more than healthy merely 15 minutes ago?! I thought it was just a cold?!”

Jeongin watched seungmin try and give hyunjin CPR, as if that would help the boy breathe better. He wanted to tell seungmin the truth. Seungmin can make hyunjin better, but not because he was a doctor.

With a heavy heart, jeongin instead answered him, “A candle always shines the brightest right before it burns out.”

Seungmin glared at jeongin. “that tells me literally nothing! so you’re saying he just drops dead randomly? Where’s woojin and chan? Would they know how to help him?!”

Jeongin bit his lip. To hell with it, he can't sit here and let hyunjin die. He knows how much seungmin cares for him, he’s seen it before even if hyunjin couldn’t.

“yes they know how to help him. even hyunjin knows, but he wont say anything to you.”

“what?” seungmin squeaked out.

“you can save him, but not because you are a doctor.”

“okay Shakespeare, enough with the cryptic messages and riddles and just spit it out!”

“you need to give him some of your cherished blood,” jeongin finally breathed out. he waited for seungmin to ask why, fully intending on explaining the whole thing.

But then seungmin got up and walked to the kitchen, returning with a knife. “he needs blood, then so be it.”

Jeongin looked at him shocked as seungmin didn’t even hesitate to cut his hand (again) and open hyunjin’s mouth.

“wait, aren’t you going to ask why-”

Seungmin glanced up at him right before he was going to drop his blood into hyunjin’s mouth. “why? You just said he needs some of my blood to survive. I’m giving him some of my blood. Don’t worry, im not squeamish. I literally have seen much worse in the hospital.”

“no hyung wait-”

Seungmin exhaled roughly, stopping again. “what?” he asked impatiently.

“don’t you want to hear about the consequences and all that?”

Seungmin blinked at jeongin. “No. Not really.”

Jeongin looked at him like he had a hundred heads. “are you sure you have all of your memories back? Are you sure you remember everything properly?” he asked him suspiciously.

Seungmin squinted down at hyunjin. “is he still flirting with felix these days?” he asked with jealousy.

“yeah, why?”

“it’s gonna have to stop from now on.”

Jeongin stared at him with disbelief, “ok, well you definitely have your memories back. Just let me explain really quick so that you can make a proper decision-”

Seungmin ignored him and leaned forward, dropping his blood into hyunjin’s mouth, and waited for him to swallow it. jeongin gaped at him, not knowing what to say.

“oh don’t look so shocked. I don’t know the extent to my blessed gifts, but im not about to question it. I literally get visions of a person’s death, so I believe you when you say that my blood can heal him. plus the jerk just healed my cuts on my hands like 5 minutes ago so-”

“seungmin! you didn’t let me finish! Jeez, do you always just go straight into things without worrying about the consequences?! Of course you do! why am I even asking that? you literally just jumped off a freaking building half an hour ago, oh my fuck,” jeongin was freaking out. they just completed the bond anchoring themselves to each other, and he didn’t even get a chance to give seumgin the option to back out. What if he was wrong about him?

“ok then explain it now that hyunjin seems to be doing better. ow!” seungmin brought his wrist up, feeling an intense burning. He watched in fascination as a small tattoo of a daffodil in black lines began to scrawl itself on his wrist. Without him noticing, the same thing happened to the side of hyunjin’s neck, only slightly bigger.

Jeongin sighed, exhaling a shaky breath. “you just anchored yourself to hyunjin for the next 500 years.”

Seungmin looked up at jeongin. “im sorry, what now?”

“you are a cherished that lives a long life, blessed by god. Hyunjin has cursed blood that slowly kills him off until the day he gets closer to the age of 25. Same for woojin, minho and felix, as well as myself….”

Jeongin continued to explain everything in detail, seungmin listening to him patiently without interrupting a single time.

When jeongin was done with the explanation, seungmin spoke up.

“so basically I just married hyunjin.”

Jeongin looked at seungmin like he was crazy. Perhaps he was. “whut.”

“we are like, bonded for life now. So that makes him my husband, right? Instead of rings we have matching tattoos and hyunjin pretty much declared his undying loyalty to me ‘till death do us part’ and stuff, right?”

“uhhh, no. just because he is anchored to you doesn’t mean you guys have to love each other until the end of time. It’s kind of like a partnership that you cant get out of. You provide him with your lifeline, and he swears to protect you. That’s it. nowhere does it mention that you must love each other eternally up in here.”

Seungmin huffed, crossing his arms. “well its too late for that.”

“did you just indirectly admit you love hyunjin?”

Seungmin blinked at jeongin and nodded. “yeah.”

Then he sniffed, lifting his head in the air. “you think im blind, boy? of course I do! always have. He caught my eye the moment I bumped into him all those months ago in the hospital. I was just too stupid to realize it until it was too late and then my memories got erased.” 

Jeongin nodded his head. Fair enough.

Seungmin looked down at a peacefully sleeping hyunjin. Poor guy was probably too exhausted after almost dying and all. He gently brushed his hair aside, almost a little giddy at finally being able to call hyunjin _his_. He never had anything that was exclusively his. He was always forced to share or give up the things he cared about the most. Living in the foster system does that to you.

Jeongin coughed, interrupting his train of thoughts. “so like, that’s it? you just anchored yourself to hyunjin and you are completely okay about this? do you even have any questions?”

“why do they die so young?” seungmin brought his good hand over to hold hyunjin’s hand. he breathed in relief. It really has been too long since he was able to do this.

“we have cursed blood that kills us from a cellular level. If we didn’t die young, we would be too powerful. Who knows what would happen if we were allowed to live as long as you with out incredible abilities? But all of us are different. You have to think of this like its biology. You’re a doctor, so ill explain it to you scientifically.”

Seungmin nodded, ready to finally learn what the hell is going on. Even though he believes in science, he also believes in the unknown. How could he not, when he has visions of death on a daily basis, chan can see a person’s aura, jisung can touch an object and know its history, and changbin can move things with his telekinesis?

“think of the daemons as having a certain genetic trait. It’s a dominant trait, and no matter how the child is born, as long as one of their parents is a daemon, that trait automatically takes over and they also live as a daemon. But like all other genetics, it changes, evolves over time as the generations pass. Daemons and cherished began to have children together, mixing their blood. This weakens the cursed dominant trait, but of course the children still have the abilities of a daemon no matter what. But now they have some cherished blood in them as well. This just kind of lessens the impact of the cursed blood, even though they are still cursed. Minho and woojin hyung are part cherished. the blessed blood they inherited from one of their parents continued to lie dormant in their body. It was always there, but they cant use it since they are a daemon. The only good their small amount of blessed blood does for them is extend their life fully to the entire 25 years, maybe even a little bit longer, and they don’t suffer from the touch craze or fevers as much.”

Seungmin nodded, understanding. “and what bout you and hyunjin and felix?”

“us three, we are pure daemons. We have absolutely no mixed or cherished blood in our veins. We are as close to the originals as you can get. Our blood is pure, which means we suffer completely from the effects of being a daemon. Hyunjin and felix are the purest of all of us, meaning their life spans are considerably shorter, they suffer more from the fevers and touch craze. To put it simple, even though they are super strong and learn the quickest, they will also die the fastest since their cursed blood is the strongest. Felix and hyunjin are very similar in genetics, and being near each other kind of helps with the pain they experience on a daily basis. Its part of the reason why they cling to each other a lot. Well actually, they are both just dumbasses, but that’s not the point right now. Woojin and minho always have been on the closer side as well, since their genetics are similar being half cherished. its almost like the blood in us forms a companionship.”

Seungmin inhaled a breath. “so all of this time he’s been dying quicker than all of you, and he knew.”

Jeongin nodded in confirmation.

Seungmin rubbed his face in exhaustion, letting that sink in. he looked to the clock, noting it was really late.

“I appreciate your help jeongin. I think we should just deal with all of this in the morning. I'm going to take hyunjin back to my room and get him something dry to wear. There’s a guest bedroom over there that you are welcome to stay in,” he smiled tiredly at jeongin.

Jeongin smiled back. “I should be the one thanking _you_ , hyung. You just saved hyunjin’s life without hesitation. We owe you one.”

Seungmin waved him off. “he can make that up to me for the rest of our lives now,” he said affectionately down at hyunjin.

Jeongin helped seungmin carry hyunjin to bed. Once in dry clothes, Seungmin finally scooched under the covers and unconsciously looked over to the space next to him. it was no longer cold and empty. He smiled to himself and curled into hyunjin’s warm body heat, burying his nose into his shirt and drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "So Alive" by goo goo dolls


	23. Home

Hyunjin stared down at the gorgeous boy snuggled into his side. The sun was barely up, the sky slowly getting lighter behind seungmin’s sheer blue curtains. He lightly traced the inside of seungmin’s wrist where his tattoo of a daffodil was scrawled on his delicate skin. Then he brought his fingertip up, tracing his lips and the tip of his nose. He continued higher until he got to his forehead, smoothing out the skin.

He honestly doesn’t know how he got this lucky. To him, seungmin was perfect in every way.

Seungmin made a face in his sleep, slowly waking up. hyunjin continued to admire his cute pouty expression. He maneuvered even closer to seungmin, breathing in his lavender clean scent.

Seungmin blinked his eyes, taking in the sight in front of him. still half-asleep, he leaned in and pecked hyunjin quickly on the lips. Hyunjin blinked at him, frozen stiff. He couldn’t believe seungmin just did that of his own free will.

Seungmin yawned, running a hand through his hair. “I thought it was a dream,” he whispered in the quiet morning.

“what was?” hyunjin whispered back, reaching for seungmin’s hand.

“this. you finally coming back. Us,” he mumbled.

Hyunjin grinned at him. “were you lonely without me?” he teased.

Seungmin gazed into his eyes for a few moments. “yes,” he softly answered him seriously. “that side of the bed never felt the same. Coming home was never the same.”

Hyunjin’s smile faded, letting those words wrap around him in the quiet morning. He gulped. “and now? How does it feel now?” he doesn’t know why he sounds so vulnerable and insecure. He’s hwang hyunjin for goodness sake! Of course everybody would want to be with him! he never had a worry in the world.

But what seungmin thinks of him is really important to him, and his whole body shook with nerves and the prospect of seungmin one day not thinking he was worthy enough.

Sensing hyunjin’s uncertainty, Seungmin leaned closer to his face, reaching up and running a hand through hyunjin’s hair. he smiled a sweet smile, knowing what he has to do.

“hwang hyunjin, listen to me carefully. my whole life I never had a home. I never truly had a place I could call my own. Everyday was boring. I would come back to my nice apartment, but it was never good enough. And then you came along, filling the spots that were empty. Suddenly, coming back didn’t seem so lonely anymore. Finally, my bed didn’t seem so cold.”

A slight blush started to creep up on hyunjin, his breath catching in his throat. This is the first time seungmin has been so open with his feelings.

Seungmin continued, brushing his lips against hyunjin’s, “but then you left me, and it honestly felt like I lost a home. Home to me is not just where you lay your head or where you make your bed. It's where your heart is set in. _You_ are my home now, and as long as we’re together it doesn’t matter where we go.”

Hyunjin’s eyes watered a little, sniffling as he kissed seungmin back. He was crying and smiling at the same time. Those were just the words he didn’t realize he needed to hear his whole life.

***

For the next hour, they lounged in seungmin’s bed, talking and constantly touching in some way. Seungmin stared up at his ceiling as he let hyunjin play with his fingers.

“what are you thinking about? I like it when you think,” hyunjin asked, kissing his tattoo and each finger.

Seungmin sighed, turning to face hyunjin. “just about our memories being erased. Why do they come back when you give us some of your blood?”

“ah, yes that is a good question. Our blood can heal our cherished, right? I gave you some last night for your cuts, and again for the second cut you made to yourself. Well ren’s abilities, in a way, damaged your neurons in your brain, causing the memory loss of his choosing. When I gave you my blood, it healed those damaged nerves as well as your wounds. so it regenerated the memories that were being suppressed. The same thing happened to jisung.”

Seungmin frowned, still thinking. “but I was able to remember some things, like your name and things you said to me. and I kind of recognized jeongin.”

Hyunjin thought about it for a moment. “honestly, I don’t know why you were able to remember me. The only thing I can think of is that its because I gave you some of my blood a while back ago. I linked myself to you and started half the process of anchoring my life to yours. That connection must have kept me somewhere deep in your thoughts and not even ren’s gifts could wipe it out. just like how I could feel you whenever your emotions were out of control.”

Seungmin nodded, “I guess that makes sense.” He rolled over, grabbing hyunjin by the shirt and kissing him again. It was thrilling knowing he could do that whenever he wants now, for the rest of his life. finally he wasn’t alone anymore. And the fact that jisung and the others get to live long lives along side him and hyunjin was even better.

At the thought of jisung, he suddenly stopped kissing hyunjin and pulled away, causing hyunjin to whine. “seungminnie? What’s wrong?”

“hyunjin, tell me something. jisung is linked to minho right now, right?”

Hyunjin nodded. “yeah, minho started the process by giving him some of his blood a little over a month ago. He just recently saved minho though.”

Seungmin gritted his teeth. “so he’s had his memories back for about a month?”

Hyunjin looked at seungmin, sensing his anger through their bond. “yeah….why?”

Seungmin threw the covers off of him, getting up and dressing quickly. “that little bitch! As soon as I get my hands on him…!”

“seungmin, you’re scaring me,” hyunjin pouted, not understanding what’s going on. They were having such a peaceful morning.

“I have to go to jisung’s real quick. I'll be right back if you want to wait here and rest some more-”

Hyunjin cut him off. “uh-uh. I’m coming with you.” Then he shouted, “jeongin, we will be right back! You can stay here if you want!” he distantly heard a grunt, probably jeongin going back to sleep in the other room.

Seungmin looked at hyunjin, then walked over to his nightstand. “fine, you can come. but take this with you.” He handed a rolled up newspaper to hyunjin. Then he bent down and grabbed his slipper. “ok lets go.”

Hyunjin jumped out of bed, following him out of the room. “Minnie, why did you give me a rolled up newspaper? And why do you have a slipper?”

Seungmin marched to the front door, stopping in his tracks to look at hyunjin with an angelic smile on his face. hyunjin shivered in slight fear.

“to beat the shit out of jisung with it, of course,” he answered sweetly, like hyunjin asked about the weather or something.

***

“minho give it back!” jisung tried to jump up and reach minho’s raised hand. minho was just too damn tall, and athletic.

He stole jisung’s lyric book, wanting to see what the younger has written. But jisung is very particular about his work, and refuses to show anyone until its just perfect. The only ones who were allowed access to his lyrics book _sometimes_ was chan or changbin.

Jisung told minho just as much, but the stubborn jerk was too nosy. He took it and ran around the apartment with it, trying to read it as he dodged jisung. He giggled at another failed attempt of jisung trying to get it back.

“minho, I swear to god,” jisung’s eyes dimly glowed red in anger. Minho could feel jisung’s agitation coursing through him, and he smirked.

“just a page, and then ill give it back. What’s in here that you are so worried of showing me? It only makes me more curious,” minho looked down at it, and began to flip the pages, finding a random spot to read.

“there are some lines you should never cross!” jisung yelled, flinging himself at minho, tackling him and bringing them both crashing to the ground in front of the front door. Jisung sat on top of minho, wrestling the book out of his fingers.

Minho laughed, letting jisung win. jisung snatched the book and tossed it across the apartment away from the prying eyes of his annoying partner. He gripped minho’s shirt collar and glared into minho’s eyes.

Minho pouted, making a kissy face. “I just wanted to know everything about you, is that so bad?” he whined cutely.

“don’t play the cute act on me mister. When my lyrics are done, then I will show you.”

Minho tried to lean up and peck jisung’s lips, but jisung back away, not letting him get away with it this time. Minho humphed. “will I be the first one you show once its finished?”

Jisung sighed, sitting more comfortably on top of minho. “besides chan and changbin since they help produce the songs, yes you will be the first one to listen to it once its done. I promise.”

Minho grinned up at him, and it still took jisung’s breath away every time. “good,” and then he tried to kiss jisung again.

Suddenly, there was knocking on jisung’s door.

“jisung, open up right this instant!” seungmin yelled in the hallway.

Jisung frowned at the door. “how did seungmin get in the building? He should’ve called to let me know he was coming!”

But jisung didn’t even have time to react or get up to get the door, because then there was a loud _boom!_ and jisung’s door went flying off the hinges and smacking harshly into the wall.

Seungmin stood in the center of the doorway, hands on his hips, eyes burning a bright red and glaring down at jisung with murder in his eyes and a slipper in one of his hands.

“seungmin, what the fuck?!”

Minho waved, “hi seungmin! hyunjin, its good to see you on this fine morning!” hyunjin was standing behind seungmin in the hall.

“hyunjin, did you just kick down my door?!” jisung squeaked loudly.

Hyunjin smiled sheepishly from the hallway. “yeah sorry about that. seungmin wanted into the apartment immediately. and what seungmin wants, seungmin gets.”

Seungmin squinted down at his best friend, gritting his teeth in anger. “I see you two look awfully _cozy_ ,” he said with venom in his voice at the sight in front of him. Jisung was still sitting on top of minho with a thigh on either side of him, his hands at his shirt collar and leaning in close to his face.

“this is exactly what it looks like,” Minho said with a devilish smile.

“no its not! shut up you!” jisung hissed, wrapping his hands around minho’s neck and starting to choke him. Apparently minho wants to die sooner rather than later.

Minho sat up slightly, shifting jisung who was straddling him, his face centimeters from jisung’s. “kinky,” he whispered, jisung’s hold loosening so that seungmin wouldn’t get the wrong idea. His face still burned bright red, though.

Seungmin sighed in irritation, making his way over to jisung. Jisung looked up at him, confused as to why he had a death grip on his slipper.

“Minnie? Everything ok?”

Then seungmin let all hell break loose.

“I cant believe,” _smack_ ,  “you anchored yourself to minho” _another smack_ , “and didn’t say a word to me!” he continued smacking jisung with the slipper as he yelled. Jisung rolled off of minho and held his arms up to protect himself from the smacking of seungmin’s slipper.

“a whole month jisung, you piece of shit! You had your memories back for a whole month and continued to let me live out my days like nothing happened!”

_Smack, smack!_

“wait, seungmin! hear me out! they made me keep quiet! I wasn’t allowed to tell you because of some universal law and it being forbidden or whatever! I wanted to tell you, believe me!” jisung tried to crawl away on the ground, but seungmin stomped on his back, making him fall flat against the flooring with an ‘oomph!’

Jisung rolled over onto his back, blocking his face from the onslaught of slipper smacks. Seungmin sat on top of him so he couldn’t get away again.

“jisung, I am your _best friend_. Everybody knows that nothing trumps telling your best friend everything! Not even the god damn laws of the universe! That’s just how it is, I don’t make the rules. As soon as you found out, you should have automatically told me!” another smack to jisung’s arm as he yelled that out.

jisung pouted, “ok, ok you are right! I was just scared seungmin! what if I unintentionally fucked something up by telling you everything? I was worried! They told us we would be happier if we didn’t involve ourselves with their world.”

“and were you?” seungmin asked with accusation in his voice.

Jisung quieted down, lowering his arms. He looked up at seungmin. “was I what?”

“happier without them?” seungmin nodded his head in the direction of minho and hyunjin, who were standing off to the side watching the best friends fight it out. minho looked amused, hyunjin looked concerned.

Jisung looked over at minho, his eyes softening with a look that made minho’s heart skip a beat. He looked back at seungmin shaking his head. “No. no I wasn’t happier without them. Even if this is a more dangerous path, im happier with him.”

“that’s exactly how I feel. What’s the point in living life without the people you care most about?” he sighed, running his hands through his hair as he calmed down from his tantrum. He feels a lot better now that he beat the shit out of jisung.

“so does this mean you love me again?” jisung grinned up at seungmin, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Seungmin looked down at jisung with a bored expression on his face. “apparently the first beating wasn’t enough for you. Hyunjin, give me my newspaper.”

“yes darling~” hyunjin called over with a giggle.

Jisung looked terrified, “you brought a slipper _and_ a rolled up newspaper?” it would seem seungmin was a lot angrier than jisung thought.

Minho turned to hyunjin. “why did he bring both?”

Hyunjin shrugged, “he said the newspaper was backup in case he needed to beat the shit out of jisung without leaving red marks.”

Minho burst out laughing, “that’s smart.”

Jisung gasped as he heard that from across the room. “you traitor! Aren’t you supposed to protect me?! Minho, make seungmin get off of me!”

“quiet you!” seungmin hissed, smacking him again, this time with the rolled up newspaper hyunjin quickly gave him.

“owww! Minho~” jisung whined, rubbing his arm.

Minho rolled his eyes at his dramatic cherished and sighed. “seungmin, I think he learned his lesson. We really did prevent him from saying anything to you. You know he would have told you if he could.”

Seungmin sniffed pettily, “if you _ever_ do something dumb like that again, I wont hesitate to bring out my flip-flop,” he threatened his best friend.

Jisung gasped. “not the flip-flop,” he whispered in horror.

Minho chuckled, turning to hyunjin again. “and I thought jisung had a bad temper.”

Hyunjin shook his head. “yeah, i can see now why they miraculously stayed friends all these years.”

“so you and seungmin, huh?” minho grinned at hyunjin, bumping into his shoulder. Hyunjin grinned back, rubbing his flower tattoo on his neck.

“so is this a bad time to tell you that woojin is over at chan’s right now?” minho popped the question on hyunjin suddenly with a giggle.

Hyunjin stopped grinning. “im sorry, repeat that?”

“oh, woojin and chan bonded a couple of months ago, back in autumn. Jeongin was the first to find out, but soon they told me.”

Hyunjin blinked at minho, not believing the audacity minho had to keep this from them all this time. “seungmin, im gonna need your slipper.”

***

Changbin was cleaning up his store, rearranging a bunch of posters when he noticed a commotion outside in the front. he stopped what he was doing, looking out of his large display window, watching as two figures started to struggle in a fight. One of them had pinkish hair.

“what the hell?” he muttered. He’ll be damned if a fight broke out in front of his business.

Putting the posters down, he went to the front of his store and opened the door to tell these people to knock it off.

***

Chan looked down at his phone as it frantically started ringing for the third time.

Woojin glanced at chan curiously. “who is it?” he asked.

Chan watched his phone light up again for the fourth time, then looked up at woojin with his eyes glinting red and a sad expression on his face.

“it’s changbin,” he said.

“aren’t you going to pick up? it seems pretty important if he’s called a few times in a row now,” woojin noted. He was starting to get a bad feeling with the way chan was acting.

Chan exhaled a shaky breath. He rubbed his arms in frustration. His phone started ringing a fifth time.

“woojin, hold my hands so that I don’t pick up. I cant answer him. I cant interfere this time,” he whimpered, wanting to help his precious friend, but knowing he shouldn’t. “this is up to changbin now.”

“want to tell me about it?” woojin got up and walked over to chan, rubbing his back in comfort at his cherished’s obvious distress. Chan was overprotective of all his friends. woojin knows its probably killing chan not being able to do anything for them.

“I cant. Just…just hug me until this is over with?” he looked up at woojin, his eyes still glinting red. “I would tell you, but…but it’s just a feeling,” he whispered. He didn’t have to tell woojin that, woojin completely understands, but it made chan feel better as he voiced it out.

Woojin was sad there was nothing he could do for chan besides just be there for him when he gets his feelings.

Chan’s phone started ringing a sixth time. His lip trembled as he watched it go to voicemail again. He buried his face in woojin’s shirt, trying to let the older boy’s touch comfort him.

His phone rang a seventh time.

And then it didn’t ring anymore after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Home" by gabrielle aplin


	24. Fate

Staggering down the street, felix made his way to the familiar music store he’s grown to love. He was sweating, and his ears were ringing.

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. He hasn’t been doing so good lately, and he knows what that means. But after the attack on seungmin, the worry was eating him alive. He has to make sure changbin was ok before he goes. Even if it’s just a glance through the window, or if he manages to pass him by on the street, as long as changbin looks ok and happy then he will be content in leaving this world. He’s sad he wont be able to spend more time with his friends, no his _family_ , but this is something he was prepared to go through since he was little.

He made it to the music store, holding his side for a second and trying to catch his breath. All he has to do is take a few steps across the street and he will be just mere feet away from changbin. his heart was hammering in his chest, whether from the fever or the fact that he was going to see his cherished again _finally_ he doesn’t know.

Clutching his heart, he quickly ran across the street, peering into the giant glass window at the front of the store. he sighed with relief, seeing changbin alive and well in the store, cleaning up and rearranging posters and displays.

He took an involuntary step towards the door, his hand reaching out to the door knob. He looked down at what he was doing and stopped himself, pulling back. He took a step backwards away from the window and just stared at changbin.

He was the most beautiful person he has ever come to know. His lip quivered at never getting to see him ever again. He stood there studying changbin through the window a little longer. even though the older male was shorter, he was well built. He had gorgeous legs and the softest hair. his eyes held a fondness every time he turned to gently place new music CDs on a shelf, the passion for music obvious to anyone who paid attention. He was kind to the people he loves, and just _once_ in his life felix wishes he could have been one of those select few people changbin truly cared about. Changbin unconsciously turned and faced felix so that he could get a good look at his face. changbin’s lips were one of felix’s most favored features on the boy, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw changbin lick his lips, not realizing felix was still staring at him.

Felix coughed, covering his mouth and catching the blood in his palm, wiping it on his black jeans. He frowned, noticing how tired changbin looked. He had dark circles under his eyes that weren't there before, and he seemed to look like he lost a couple of pounds. He must not have been getting good sleep.

Felix made a mental note to tell minho and hyunjin to make sure changbin eats well and takes care of himself in the years to come.

Suddenly, someone from across the empty street shouted to felix.

“Hey! Hey you! Get away from there right now!”

Felix turned, startled. He barely had time to react before a figure in a black hoodie and black cap and face mask approached him aggressively. He dodged the guy’s punch and side stepped the next one.

“woah there mate! What the hell?” felix gasped out. he _so_ did not need some guy trying to mug him right now. He could barely stand, let alone fight.

But still the annoying male was persistent.

“I know what you are trying to do, you abomination! Get away from that cherished right now! I wont let you get near him!”

Felix’s eyes widened when he noticed the male pulling out a knife. He squinted his eyes in anger as they started to glow a bright amber. “how the hell do you know changbin and what do you plan on doing with him?” he growled out angrily.

Felix stepped in front of the music store’s front door protectively. If this guy wants to get to changbin, he will have to go through him first.

The guy in black slashed out at felix, and felix blocked and hit his hand, causing the attacker to yelp and grip his hand. unfortunately he was smart enough not to drop the knife.

Felix coughed again, his eyes going slightly blurry. He took a threatening step towards the male, and gripped his arm with super speed. He twisted, not enough to break it but enough to hurt so that the guy screamed in pain and dropped the knife.

“im going to ask you again. How do you know changbin is cherished and why are you trying to attack me?” he said darkly.

The guy was breathing heavily, trying to struggle out of felix’s strong hold. “I know what you are,” he shot at felix who was still behind him. “I wont let you harm another cherished! you and your little friends have a lot to pay for what you did.”

Felix looked at the back of the guy’s head in confusion.

Suddenly he heard a door open, and a familiar raspy voice called out to them.

“what the hell is going on out here?” changbin said. he was only a few feet away from felix and the attacker, and felix’s senses kicked into overdrive when he processed that fact.

He let go of the male and stepped in front of changbin, blocking his view of the masked figure. “binnie, stay behind me. Its not safe right now,” felix pleaded, not daring to take his eyes off of the man that was slowly getting up and approaching them.

“what did you just call me?” changbin whispered out, momentarily confused.

Felix turned quickly to look at changbin, and then his eyes widened as he noticed his slip up. only a select few people called changbin by that nickname. Still, now was not the time to worry about that. felix only had a few options: he couldn’t attack this person using his heightened abilities right here out in the open, and especially not in front of changbin. but even after all of this time, changbin was his top priority and he needed to keep him safe. so felix decided to just knock the guy out and call the cops.

Felix stepped backwards even closer to changbin so that his back hit his chest.

“what the hell do you think you are doing kid?” changbin growled out.

Felix was in a lot of pain and impatient. He didn’t have the time to explain. “binnie, for once just trust me and stay back!”

“im not letting some young kid protect me from a robber or whatever that is over there. And especially not in front of my store. I don’t need this kind of bad publicity shit,” changbin argued, sidestepping felix.

Felix panicked. The black figure slowly approached, having picked up his knife again. He was cradling his arm a little where felix twisted it.

“changbin, I need you to step away from that evil thing right this instant. He’s the one who isn’t safe! please, come with me,” the guy pleaded behind his mask, holding out his hand for changbin to take. felix hissed at the gesture with a disgusted face. 

Changbin blinked, unsure of how everyone on this damn street knew his name. he stepped further away from felix, giving him a glance over. The boy was cute, with his pinkish hair and soft baby blue sweater. He was wearing black tight jeans and light pink sneakers to match his hair. he had a pretty earring in one of his ears and the widest brown doe eyes. What changbin really appreciated about this soft looking boy was the splattering of freckles across his face, and his pouty pink lips.

Changbin’s head started to hurt, but he ignored it. for some reason this boy seemed familiar to him.

He looked back at the figure in black who was holding a knife and snorted. “you expect me to believe that this cute innocent looking boy is evil? He couldn’t hurt a fly with those precious little sweater paws of his. Have you _seen_ yourself in the mirror? There’s no way in hell im just gonna skippity on over there and take your hand. what even?”

Felix blushed a little, momentarily forgetting the danger they were in. “you think im cute?”

Changbin looked at him with a bored expression. “don’t get your hopes up, kid. What are you? Like 16?”

“im actually only a year or so younger than you, but that’s beside the point,” felix huffed, blowing his hair out of his face.

“and how would you know my age?” changbin challenged with a smirk. “do I have a secret admirer? Sorry kid, you may be cute, but there’s no way I’d fall for you. You just don’t fit my style, you know?”

Felix frowned, that hurting a little more than it should. He knows changbin doesn’t mean it, with his memories erased and all.

In their moments of bickering, the guy took his chance to charge forward with the knife towards felix. Felix coughed, just noticing and made to react again, but this time slower.

Maybe he would have been too slow. Maybe he would have missed the knife and suffered the consequences. But he will never know, because in that split second that felix turned to see the knife coming for him he was suddenly thrown backwards by a strong force, barely registering a voice shouting.

“No!” changbin yelled.

Felix hit the brick wall of the music store with a loud crack. The male with the knife flew a few feet and landed in the middle of the street with a loud thud, no doubt hitting his head on the concrete with a smack. The knife in his hand flew several meters down the street and skidded to a stop.

Felix rubbed his head, groaning at the sore spot. If he was a normal human that probably would have knocked him out. he carefully got up, assessing what the hell just happened. He glanced over at changbin, and gasped at what he saw.

The entire area around them looked like a strong wind blew through it. Trash cans were knocked over, the cars in the street were pushed away and staggered. The attacker lay unconscious on the ground in the middle of the street. In the center of it all was changbin, eyes glowing red and widened in horror, his hand covering his mouth as he breathed heavily.

“not again,” changbin muttered. And then he took off, running back inside of his store and slamming the door shut. Felix could see through the window objects start to fly around inside. He blinked, trying to stay conscious enough to take care of changbin.

“shit,” he cursed under his breath. He brought out his phone with shaking fingers, the fever spreading through his body. His cells were trying to heal the lump on his head and the bruising he just took slamming into a brick wall, but the fever was preventing his natural healing abilities from taking over, which just made his looming death that much more insufferable.

“minho hyung,” he gasped on the other line. “someone tried to attack me? Or changbin? I have no idea, but I need you to come right away,” and then he hung up without hearing a response. He has to go find changbin and calm him down. obviously his telekinesis is out of control for some reason.

He gave a glare to the person lying on the ground, and then ran into the store after changbin.

Once in the building, Felix carefully picked past the debris around him, heading to the back room of the music store. the door was hanging off it’s hinges, and he had to pick the whole thing up and yank it completely off the frame and toss it aside. He didn’t bother caring if someone saw him use inhuman strength. He was positive no one else was here.

“changbin?” he called out. but there was no reply. Felix stepped into the back room, searching all around him. picture frames flew off the walls, and a printer was tossed against one of the chairs. He heard heavy breathing coming from behind some of the huge metal filing cabinets, and slowly toed his way past scattered papers and books.

“changbin, are you okay?” felix asked quietly. He finally found changbin on the ground with his knees brought to his chest and his hands cradling his head. He was shaking all over.

Felix went to touch his arm, but changbin jerked away suddenly.

“don’t come near me! You aren’t meant to see me like this. nobody is meant to see me like this. im sorry. I’m so sorry.” He repeated apologies over and over as the window panes started to crack and a flower vase shattered into a hundred pieces.

Felix took everything in with wide eyes, but not out of fear. It would take a lot to make felix afraid.

“don’t touch me! You might get hurt. I don’t want to hurt you. I never mean to hurt them.” He then looked up at felix with fear in his wine colored eyes.

Felix’s heart ached at the sight of the dark haired boy looking so broken in front of him. and so he crouched down and tugged him in his arms, rubbing his back up and down trying to comfort the older male. Changbin clutched onto felix’s sweater, burying his head into the crook of his neck in a childish attempt to hide himself from the world.

More random things were flying around the room, but after several minutes changbin calmed down, sniffling a little and taking deep breaths. His eyes returned to normal. For some reason, this boy seemed so familiar. When he saw earlier what was going to happen to the younger pink haired male and the guy with the knife, he panicked and let loose his strong gifts. He hasn’t had an episode like this one in a very long time.

After a few more moments, he wiped his face onto the boy’s sweater, inhaling the soothing scent and not caring that he’s never seen this person before. This kid smelled like strawberries and something sweet. Changbin always liked strawberries.

Then he realized the boy wasn’t rubbing his back comfortingly anymore and he finally mustered the courage to look up. he had about a thousand excuses as to why he has telekinesis and what happened back there, but then he noticed the kid didn’t look so good.

“uhm, hey? Are you ok?” changbin muttered. He detached himself from the gorgeous boy, leaning away to get a proper look. He was sweating really bad and his face looked pale. His breathing was worse than changbin’s was a minute ago, and he had this dazed look in his eyes.

_Oh no, did I hurt him when I lost control?_

Changbin started to panic, and felix could sense it. through their partial bond, he could feel his emotions start to go crazy. Felix didn’t blame him, this whole situation must seem overwhelming to him because of his lost memories.

“shh, its ok binnie. You didn’t hurt me, I was already like this before. You did good binnie, you saved my life. again,” he growled out the last part in irritation. Changbin has really got to stop doing that, felix’s heart cant take it when he puts himself in danger when it should be felix protecting him.

He cupped changbin’s cheeks with his hands, rubbing his thumbs across them to wipe away the tear stains. “promise me you wont cry anymore once im gone, yeah? My heart hurts too much when you cry.”

Changbin touched felix’s hands on his face. “how do you know me? I've never met you before…right?”

Felix couldn’t help it, he just _had_ to fuss over changbin, even in his horrible state. He removed his hands from his cheeks, and started fixing changbin’s hair softly. “we met once, but you probably don’t remember me,” he giggled sadly. Changbin unconsciously leaned into felix’s touch, closing his eyes briefly. He let felix fix his hair and pat him.

“believe me, if I met you I would have remembered you,” changbin muttered. Felix giggled again, but then started coughing really bad. He removed his hand and coughed into it, wiping the blood when he was done.

Changbin watched in horror. “are you ok? What the hell?”

Felix leaned over again, hugging changbin tight and burying the older boy’s face in his chest. Changbin made an ‘oof!’ noise that was impossibly cute.

“I didn’t mind dying,” felix whispered quietly. “It never bothered me, I was prepared for it. but then I met you. Now, I want to be selfish. If only I had one more day. That’s all I would ask for. Just one more day with you.”

“What do you mean? Listen kid, you are starting to freak me out,” changbin’s voice came out muffled against his sweater.

Felix let go, his vision hazy. He leaned his face closer again, completely intending to brush his lips softly against changbin’s one last time. surprisingly, changbin didn’t lean away from all of the touches felix was giving him, and it puzzled changbin to no end. He hated it when people touched him, especially a stranger.

But this person didn’t feel like a stranger.

Changbin couldn’t believe it, but he was going to actually let this person get so close to him. he watched as the pink haired boy’s lips came closer, no doubt about what was going to happen. He sat there completely still, afraid that the boy would back away if he moved. He licked his lips in anticipation.

Just when the kid got close enough where changbin could feel his breath on his lips, he collapsed against him harshly.

“what-?” changbin gasped out, not expecting that. he caught the kid in his arms, and gently lowered him down so that his head was in changbin’s lap. Changbin’s fingers were shaking, and he felt the kid’s forehead.

“holy shit! You are burning up!”

Changbin looked around helplessly at his office. Everything was destroyed from his panic attack, and then there was the guy that attacked them lying unconscious outside. There was no way he could call the cops or ambulance, not when his gifts might still be out of control.

He bit his lip, trying to think of what to do. the kid in his lap groaned in pain, his breathing coming out harshly.

“Oh god, ok hold on kid, im going to get some help,” changbin chanted, not even sure if the pink haired boy could hear him. what the hell was happening?!

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed chan’s number. “come on, pick up pick up pick up,” he frantically muttered, listening to the ringing on the other end. It went to voicemail. Changbin frowned. Chan always picked up. he tried again. And then again.

“dammit chan! Answer the freaking phone!” changbin yelled, starting to full on panic. A few posters flew across the room and into the hallway. He took deep breaths, getting his emotions under control. Now was not the time to freak out.

The boy started coughing again, blood coming from his lips and his ears. “oh my fucking god,” changbin hissed loudly.

He tried chan for what seemed like the tenth time, until he finally gave up. he wanted to throw his phone across the room, but he kept the anger in and dialed a different number instead.

He cried in relief when he heard the line pick up. “jisung! Please! there was someone that attacked this pretty looking kid and then I lost control even though its been years since the last time and…and please come. And…” changbin was starting to sob on the line, trying to keep his cool but he honestly doesn’t know what to do and his heart was hurting really bad and for some reason the fact that this kid was injured made him really upset.

“woah, woah, woah, calm down there bin. I already know, and we are on our way. Can you wait just a few minutes?” jisung tried to talk to him soothingly.

“yeah…yeah ok just hurry please,” changbin pleaded.

“we are almost there bin. just another minute, im going to hang up now so that I can get there faster ok?” jisung told him carefully.

Changbin sniffled out a muffled “ok,” and hung up the phone. He let out a shaky breath, unsure of what to do about the kid on his lap. He briefly registered what jisung said. _what does he mean by ‘we’?_

Jisung left with minho as soon as the older daemon got the call from felix. Hyunjin and seungmin were right behind them too. Minho thought it would be best not to all arrive at once just in case. He had no idea what they were walking into. Minho and hyunjin insisted that the best friends stay behind, but of course they were stubborn about it, worried for changbin and felix.

Jisung and minho came to a halt at the scene before them. It looked like a tornado hit the place. Everything was knocked over or damaged, almost like a huge gust of wind came and blown it all around. jisung bit his lip.

“im going to go in and check on felix and changbin. hyunjin will take care of that guy over there,” minho started ordering, quickly assessing the situation. Jisung licked his lips, looking around.

He grabbed minho’s wrist before he could leave. “wait! I think it would be best if I went inside instead,” jisung told him.

“you're joking right?” minho looked at him like he was insane. “why in hell would I let you enter a building where there could be more danger inside?”

“just hear me out,” jisung begged. “im not saying I want to go in there alone. I'm just saying that changbin is unstable right now, someone obviously just attacked him, and if he sees an unfamiliar face he might lose control again.”

“what do you mean?” minho tilted his head in confusion, but he was listening.

Jisung knows changbin’s abilities are much more aggressive than his or any of the other’s, but he’s never once seen changbin lose control. He's only heard stories from what the older boy has told him. also, chan mentioned to him once that if changbin ever gets like this, then he needs to not show fear and to calm him down. if jisung showed fear, it would only cause changbin to panic even more. chan also warned never to touch changbin if he gets sensitive like this.

“changbin is frightened and ready to protect himself at a moment’s notice. If he sees you barge in there, he might freak out. he knows me, im someone he can trust. Let me calm him down and see if he’s ok first before you show yourself. You can be right behind me, but just stay hidden from his sight.”

Minho debated, not liking the idea but not having anything to argue back with.

“minho, look around you. This is just a small example of what changbin can do. please, let me get to him first. Plus if they are injured, me and seungmin can take care of it. you forget that we went to medical school and have seen some pretty horrific things together,” jisung smiled weakly.

Minho sighed in frustration. “fine, lead the way.”

Jisung glanced behind him. “seungmin, im gonna need you in a few minutes, but not until i make sure bin is calm,” he called over. Seungmin nodded, hidden behind hyunjin’s taller frame.

“say the word and ill be there!” he called back. “if it makes you feel any better, I didn’t have a vision of anyone dying,” he chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

“that honestly does not make me feel better,” jisung laughed back. He and seungmin deal with the stress through jokes and playful banter, and he was already feeling a little bit better from all of the tension around them.

Changbin heard someone approach his office, and he quickly looked up. a cup of pens flew past jisung and embedded themselves into the wall like daggers.

“I would appreciate it if I didn’t get my eyes stabbed out, thank you very much,” jisung joked light heartedly. His heart was hammering in his chest, but he was used to being under pressure in the hospital. His face and voice were completely natural.

“jisung…” changbin breathed out in relief.

“how you feeling bin?” jisung asked casually. “do I need to patch you up?” it didn’t escape jisung’s notice that felix was dying in the older boy’s lap. _oh boy, this doesn’t look good._

Changbin shook his head. “not me jisung, _him,”_ he looked down at felix.

“ah, I see. It would seem he isn’t doing so well,” jisung said cautiously, gauging changbin’s reaction. He isn’t sure how much changbin remembers, but the fact that changbin is touching felix and allowing him to lay in his lap means that he remembers _something_.

Jisung was one hundred percent sure that changbin would not let him get close enough to touch him, so he stayed a few feet away.

“you need to keep calm changbin, and try not to move him too much. He must be in an extreme amount of pain,” jisung warned him. changbin’s eyes widened. He snapped his sight down to the boy in his lap.

“what the hell is wrong with him jisung?! Why is he like this, so weak and…and dying?! Is it cancer, or some other terminal illness?” changbin was frantically roaming his hands over the beautiful boy, trying to find the source of his suffering. For some reason he was panicking so badly over a boy he’s never met.

Why is he so scared?

Jisung looked sadly down at Felix, his heart breaking at the forgotten memories he and changbin used to share of the younger. “I shouldn’t tell you this. its not my secret to tell,” he gritted out.

Changbin looked up at his friend, his eyes glinting a wine red color in anger. An anger he has no idea why its there. “I swear to god you better tell me what is wrong with him right this instant or ill beat your ass.”

Jisung studied changbin closely, the look of fear alive in his eyes. Could it be that changbin subconsciously remembers, even if his memories were lost?

He sighed in defeat, throwing all caution out the window. “ill tell you, but first you must listen carefully.”

Changbin nodded, swiping some of the boy’s bangs off his forehead with shaky fingers, _trying_ to be gentle. He was never gentle with the things he wants the most.

“they are cursed. Born with a daimon’s blood in them. The blood slowly kills them as time passes until they eventually die.”

Changbin snapped his head up, only for a second, to give jisung an incredulous look. “you expect me to believe that?” he then heard some whimpering, and looked back down at felix, watching him take shallow short breaths, slowly suffocating as his lungs began to shut down.

Jisung snorted, “in all honesty? No I don’t expect you to believe it.” he was quiet for a few seconds. Then he spoke up again.

“do you believe me?” he asked changbin softly.

Changbin watched felix gasping, then reluctantly moved his eyes away from the horrific sight and looked back up at jisung. “yes, I believe you. I don’t know why, but I do.”

“good, because the next part gets harder. There is a way to save him.”

“ _How_?!” changbin demanded.

Jisung held up his hand. “but in return, you are giving up your freedom, and his.”

Changbin looked confused, “and what does that mean?”

Jisung explained, “his blood is killing him from the inside out. it’s the price they all pay for being part daimon. But that will stop if they drink some of our blood. Blood of the blessed. We are gifted, 'cherished' is what they call us.”

“ok that’s kinda gross, but not that bad. What’s so hard about this?” changbin was trying his best to follow along and rationalize everything that was happening in this bizarre situation.

“you will be giving up your freedom, linking him to you forever. Anchoring him to your life line. and when I say forever, I mean it. we live longer lives than normal humans. We are blessed after all. He will be forced to serve you for all of eternity, and you can abuse that power however you like… Although, he already knew that would happen when he saved you from dying last year.”

“he _what_?” changbin looked back down at felix, watching as his lashes brushed against his cheeks.

“they took our memories. He gave you his blood to heal you knowing exactly what that would mean for him. even though they are slowly dying, they are quite powerful, even more powerful than us in a way, which is why they were assigned to protect us with their lives. This specific daemon was assigned especially to you; your life was his priority. Their life is meaningless since they will die soon anyways.”

Changbin gulped, “so what happens if he’s gone? I thought he was supposed to protect me.”

“he gets replaced and a new cursed will be assigned to watch over you. And once they are gone, another will come until you eventually no longer exist in this world.”

Changbin made a sobbing noise in the back of his throat, linking his fingertips with felix’s cold and clammy ones on the ground, almost as if he was protecting him from being taken away from him. Why does he feel like crying?

After a few moments of letting all that he told him sink in, jisung asked a very important question. “so changbin. what will you do? Will you anchor him to you forever, or let him slowly disappear?”

Changbin didn’t answer him, just staring down at felix. He felt numb inside.

Jisung’s eyes softened at the internal conflict raging through changbin. he knows exactly what he is going through. “he wouldn’t blame you, you know. They were all prepared for their fates the moment they were born. Dying knowing he protected you to the best of his capabilities would be the highest honor he could receive as a cursed one.” Jisung tried to appease the heavy weight of responsibility changbin suddenly had to bear in these frantic moments.

Changbin slowly glanced up at jisung with wine red eyes, asking one last crucial question and placing complete trust in his friend.

“You said my memories of him were taken. Answer me honestly jisung. Was I happy with him?”

Jisung smiled down at him, the question bringing up the fond memories that changbin has long forgotten. “The happiest I have ever seen you,” he whispered to his friend.

Changbin glared down at felix, his eyes almost watering and his mind made up. This was all of _his_ fault, coming into his life and leaving a mark that not even his lost memories could erase.

He guesses his mind was already made up the moment this bubbly boy bumped into him. changbin looked around for something to cut himself with. He spotted his sharp letter opener across the room. He held out his hand and made the object fly into his waiting palm.

“ugh you are so lucky you don’t have to get up to get things,” jisung whined, trying to hide the smirk on his face as he guessed what changbin was going to do.

Changbin hesitated for only a second. Not because he was second guessing himself, but because he knows it was going to hurt like a bitch. He quickly sliced his palm, hissing at the stinging pain. “how much does he need?” he asked jisung without taking his eyes off felix’s bloody lips.

Jisung raised his eyes in surprise. “im not sure, im guessing a swallow. Are you sure about this? you can never undo this.”

“I don’t give two flying fucks about that,” he growled out. and then changbin pressed his palm to his lips, opening felix’s mouth slightly with his other hand at the same time. He adjusted felix’s head on his lap, and leaned down to press his own lips to felix’s. he tilted felix’s head back further to try and make this as quick as possible. His fingertips gripped felix’s hair, keeping him in place.

A little blood dribbled from where they were connected, and felix swallowed on reflex. When he was done, changbin wiped the blood off his and felix’s mouth and waited. His vision started going fuzzy and there was a ringing in his head. He clutched it in pain. “what the fuck?” he grumbled out.

Jisung guesses that changbin managed to transfer some of felix’s blood to himself when he kissed felix, because it looked like changbin was getting his memories back.

After a few seconds, Changbin’s own eyes were burning a bright red while a black tattoo started to creep up the side of felix’s neck in the form of a flower. The same flower started to burn itself on changbin’s skin, a small aster in black scrawling right on the inside of his wrist. Changbin noticed it, but didn’t care. He let go of his head as the pain started to go away. His palm also began to heal itself. He gasped and snapped his head closer to felix’s face, examining him.

“f-felix? Lix?” he whimpered out in a small voice.

“glad you got your memories back,” jisung laughed softly in relief. He ran his fingers through his hair in distress. Just then, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist from behind and soft lips pressing to the back of his neck. He leaned into minho’s warmth, not taking his eyes off of changbin.

Changbin watched as felix’s breathing started to go back to normal. He couldn’t help himself from starting to cry, he really couldn’t. he was feeling extremely emotional as he realized he almost lost the most important thing to him, and a few of his teardrops landed on felix’s face. he leaned down and kissed his forehead, then his closed eyelids, and then his cheeks with the freckles he’s always loved, and then finally his lips. He was leaving soft kisses everywhere. His hands roamed all over, making sure he was okay.

When he finally managed to get his emotions under control again, he glared up at jisung. “what the _fuck_ is going on? Why did felix almost die in my arms when I couldn’t even remember him?” then he squinted his eyes in anger at the way jisung and minho were all cozy and cuddly in the doorway.

Suddenly, changbin heard someone running in, seungmin and hyunjin barging into the door. “everything alright? Do I need to take a look at anyone?” seungmin panted. He really should start working out more. hyunjin thought it was cute and giggled while kissing his cheek.

“oh wow, it looks like it’s a fucking ‘let’s all date and not tell changbin’ party,” changbin growled out. “anything else I should know about?” he hissed between his teeth. He felt felix shift on his lap, and he briefly took a moment from his bitching to cuddle felix closer and make sure he was comfortable. If felix wasn’t sleeping so peacefully, he would be throwing punches right about now.

“actually, chan and woojin have been together for a few months now,” minho supplied helpfully.

“thanks you pieces of shit,” changbin scoffed. Hyunjin giggled at that. “don’t think ill forget this. if I wasn’t so scared of moving felix right now, I would shove you _all_ into my supply closet.” Jisung and minho looked at changbin in horror at the memory. “and just so you know, I don’t clean mine as often as chan does,” he sneered up at the two.

Minho gulped. If felix saw how pissed changbin was right now, he would be fearing for his life. there is one thing that minho quickly learned about felix in the time they have known these particular cherished, and that is felix would destroy anyone who upset changbin in any way. considering changbin was a little ball of anger sixty percent of the time, minho and the others are going to have to be particularly careful with this angry cherished. minho just prays changbin is too stupid to see how felix would follow him to the ends of the earth, because one word from changbin and felix would be at their throats.

“hey! Don’t rope me into this! I just found out like yesterday, so I totally get what you are going through,” seungmin argued. “jisung was the one that has known for like a month now,” seungmin didn’t even hesitate to sell jisung out to save his own skin from the supply closet.

“traitor,” jisung hissed at his best friend.

“like you’re one to talk,” seungmin hissed back, stepping behind hyunjin from jisung’s glare.

“ok enough you two. Changbin, let me carry felix back to chan’s place so that he can rest while he heals. It’s best not to stay here until we know who the hell _that_ is,” minho motioned to the tied up figure on the floor in the other room. Hyunjin and seungmin took care of it while jisung was calming changbin down.

Changbin bit his lip, not wanting to let felix go, but knowing he should. Plus he wanted answers, and he was mentally tired from the long ass day he just had.

He sighed, “fine,” but before minho could take felix away, he leaned down and pecked his lips once more, confirming that felix was indeed here with him still.

Hyunjin and jisung giggled at that. “aww changbinnie, i never knew you had a soft side to you. What happened to all of the complaining you did when felix tried to show you affection before?” jisung teased.

“shut the hell up jisung. You damn well know how I’ve felt about felix, and right now im still semi-freaking out that he almost _died_ in my _arms_ ,” he growled out.

Jisung’s smile vanished, completely understanding how changbin is feeling right now. “ok, ok, im sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

Changbin kissed felix one more time before minho bent down to pick him up. felix sighed in his sleep, a small smile ghosting his lips.

“be careful with him?” changbin whispered to minho.

Minho smiled, “of course I will.”

And then jisung held a hand out for changbin, hoisting him up from the ground. “welcome to the club my man. How does it feel knowing you are going to be stuck with felix for the next 500 years, give or take?”

Changbin’s eyes widened. “five hundred what now?”

Seungmin cackled in the background at the look on changbin’s face. he linked his arm with hyunjin’s and together they all left the music store.

***

“chan, honey. Love of my life but also bane of my existence,” woojin began, trying to get chan’s attention.

Chan stopped cleaning and glared over at woojin.

“kidding, kidding,” woojin laughed, heading over to chan to give him a kiss on the cheek. “but seriously, why are you frantically cleaning and bringing out tons of blankets and pillows?”

“to fit nine people comfortably, of course,” chan said simply, going back to making little make shift beds on his couch, in his spare bedroom, on the floor.

“channie, dear, you may have forgotten to explain to me what’s going on in that busy head of yours,” woojin said with a chuckle and endless patience.

“right, oh shit. Sorry sorry,” chan walked back over and kissed woojin much more deeply than woojin was expecting.

When it ended, woojin panted out breathlessly. “and what was that for?”

Once chan caught his breath, he explained, “this might be the last chance at some alone time in the next couple of days. I have a feeling everyone will be here in a short while, that’s why im cleaning up and making room. But don’t worry! It’s a good feeling I have!”

Woojin processed what he just told him. “everyone else is heading over right now?” chan nodded in confirmation.

“well why didn’t you say so sooner?! Forget the cleaning, we can just make minho do it,” he said as he grabbed chan’s wrist and started to drag him to their bedroom.

“what? Why?” chan asked confused, but allowed himself to be herded in their bedroom.

“we don’t have that much alone time, and you know I can never get enough of you. I don’t want to share you with the others just yet,” he pouted. Chan was about to argue, but woojin saw it coming. “don’t try to deny it mister. Once all of our younger ones come barging through that door, _both_ of our attentions will be split with the urge to start taking care of them. So for this next hour, its just going to be you and me and our huge bed.”

Chan laughed softly with a slight blush on his face.

“fine, you win. we can make minho clean the place up. and we have to call innie over too,” he rambled on as he slammed the bedroom door shut.

***

As they made their way to chan’s apartment, minho sneezed three times.

“you ok?” jisung asked worriedly. “is it another fever, or a cold? Have I not been giving you enough touch lately?” he still has a slight fear over what happened to minho before. Can you blame him?

Minho squinted his eyes in suspicion. “no, its worse than that,” he said to jisung.

“what is it?” jisung clung to minho’s arm, looking up at minho with concern.

“I get the strong feeling someone is talking shit about me,” he grumbled.

“just from a sneeze? Oh my god, and here I thought it was actually something serious!” jisung let go of minho’s arm and rolled his eyes.

“im telling you! If you sneeze three times, it means someone is talking shit about you!”

“that is such a stupid superstition! God, you just keep proving to me that you really are just a pretty face. at least hyunjin has a pretty face _and_ brains,” jisung sniffed.

“barely,” seungmin muttered. “ow! What was that for?” he whined at hyunjin who cuffed him gently on the head.

Minho huffed at his boyfriend. “don’t even try to deny it, love. You think my face is irresistible!”

Jisung crossed his arms over his chest. “I have no idea what you are talking about,” he lied.

Minho giggled at that, “sure you don’t,” he said, leaning over carefully to kiss jisung’s pout away while trying not to drop felix.

“I swear if you drop him because of some stupid lover’s quarrel, I will gnaw on your arm with my teeth and stab you with my chin,” changbin threatened, watching carefully to make sure minho had a firm grip on felix.

“Aww _binnie_ , ill be sure to keep your precious felix all cozy safe against my chest,” minho teased.

“let’s pretend we don’t know them,” seungmin muttered, walking away faster.

“agreed,” hyunjin said with a nod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Fate" by Lee Sun Hee


	25. Vibes

Changbin woke up with a gasp, feeling around the bed he was sitting next to. He must have fallen asleep last night while watching over Felix.

When they arrived, Chan was waiting for them with open arms and already had the beds made and food set out for them. Changbin watched with nervous figeting as minho gently placed Felix in one of the beds.

Felix hummed in content, turning on his side and burying himself into the covers. Without knowing, changbin's lips slowly tilted up into a soft smile at the image in front of him. Once minho left with a smirk on his face, he quickly dragged a chair into the room and plopped himself next to Felix. He was still in hyperactive protective mode over what has happened the last few hours.

He stayed like that for hours, never taking his eyes off of the pink haired boy. Every now and then Felix would mutter in his sleep and roll over. He was honestly a messy sleeper and changbin chuckled a little at that.

Chan came into the room during the night and told him there was a place for him to sleep in the living room with the others, but changbin turned the offer down. He needed to be near Felix. Watching the person he fell in love with, then forgot about, then remembered, then seeing him dying in his arms really took its toll on changbin, and he needed time to let all of that sink in. This was too many emotions for him to deal with at the moment. He honestly has no idea what he should be feeling right now.

How is he supposed to process a bizarre situation like this? Should he be crying? Or perhaps throwing a fit?

And to top it all off, he just found out he's going to be bonded to Felix for 500 years?!! does that mean they are practically married now? What if Felix gets sick of him, or becomes afraid of him after seeing what he can do? What if he decides that one day he wants to see other people other than Felix?

He stopped his chaotic mind and let that last thought really sink in. He scooted closer to the bed, leaning in and studying Felix's beautiful sleeping face. He reached forward and gently traced his forehead to the tip of his nose, down to his lips. Felix sighed in bliss at changbins touch. Changbin could feel his heart squeeze at the gesture, and carefully grabbed Felix's hand, intertwining their fingers. Felix mumbled something, and nuzzled his head into the pillow more, messing his hair.

No, changbin would never want anyone else other than Felix. The thought of someone else touching him sickened him. Felix was his to keep. Nobody else but him could have this bubbly boy.

With his mind finally at peace, changbin stayed like that, holding Felix's hand throughout the rest of the night until he fell asleep slumped on the side of the bed.

Now it is morning, and changbin blinked away the sleep while feeling a lack of warmth that he knows should be near him.

He slowly stood up, stretching his stiffened muscles from sitting in the same position all night. To be honest, he was still exhausted. Suddenly having months worth of memories bombard him within a few seconds really sapped the energy out of changbin both mentally and physically.

As he stretched, he caught a glimpse of the inside of his wrist, breathing a sigh of relief when he confirmed that it wasn't a dream. Felix really did belong to him in every way possible, and this tiny tattoo of his flower on the inside of his wrist proved this.

He gently kissed the small tattoo with soft lips and turned to go find Felix and the others this early in the morning.

Walking out of the bedroom and into the open area of Chan's apartment, changbin could see only a few others were up and the rest were still sound asleep.

Chan and woojin of course were up and sitting in the kitchen, drinking mugs of hot tea. They were leaned in close to each other, soft smiles on their faces as they spent the quiet morning together.

Seungmin was on the couch reading a book with hyunjin sprawled across his lap. How in the hell such a tall guy managed to curl himself into a small ball on top of seungmin is a mystery to changbin. But what surprised changbin even more was the look on seungmin's face. He looked happy, content. Normally changbin would expect seungmin to be annoyed at the heavy weight on him, but instead he leaned down after reading every few pages and kissed hyunjins forehead, or his cheeks, or his lips. Hyunjin didn't even stir from his sleep.

Feeling a pang of envy, changbin stopped staring at the couple and continued his search for his own daimon to pepper kisses all over. If it was anybody else, changbin would have gagged at the thought of being all lovey dovey, but he honestly couldn't care less anymore if it was with Felix.

Stepping more into the living room, he carefully walked around jeongin, who was quietly curled up in two blankets softly snoring. Seeing that not too far from him was jisung and minho with only one blanket, it was safe to assume jeongin stole one of theirs for himself in the middle of the night, most likely jisung's. Not that changbin thinks jisung minded, if the fact that he was buried under minho was any indication to go by. Jisung and minho slept like rocks. Minho practically wrapped his entire slightly larger body around jisung, his fingers buried in jisung's messy blonde hair. Jisung had his face turned into the crook of minho's neck. Changbin snorted at them. There's no way in hell you would catch him that entangled with someone, even in his sleep.

Once he stepped into the small kitchen area, he pulled out a chair for himself and messed up his hair a bit, yawning. Chan and woojin smiled over at him, and Chan immediately got up to go get him something to drink.

Changbin finally spoke what was on his mind since waking up. "Where did Felix go?"

"He went for a walk really early in the morning. Said he had to think about some things and clear his head," Woojin answered him, gauging his reaction.

Changbin frowned. He didn't like the sound of that. Did he do something wrong? Why didn't Felix wake him up to let him know?

"Ok. Well, did he say when he was getting back?" Changbin had a really uneasy feeling in his gut. He needed to be with Felix, and something in him was urging him to go find what was his.

Woojin shook his head. "No, he didn't mention it."

Chan came back with a steaming cup of coffee. Three sugars and four creamers, just how changbin likes it when he's not drinking a bubble tea.

"His aura wasn't too good this morning. More of a mustard yellow than his usual bright golden color. I get the feeling he's upset," Chan frowned, standing behind woojin and massaging his shoulders. It was always like that with him, leaving subtle touches all over woojin to the point woojin doesn't even notice or mind it anymore.

"Why would he be upset? Did he get hurt? Did something happen to him when we- you know-" changbin waved his hand in the air trying to find the right words, "bonded or whatever?"

Woojin shook his head. "Knowing Felix, he's probably overthinking again. It must be too much to handle right now."

"Handle what?!" Changbin was starting to freak out, and he was seconds away from getting up and finding his daemon? Boyfriend? Husband? Whatever the fuck they were now.

Woojin sighed when Chan bent down to kiss the top of his head. Then he tried to explain the best he could to changbin. "How do I put this in terms you would understand? Felix is very emotional..." He began.

Changbin nodded, gripping the kitchen table and urging him to continue. Everyone knows Felix is emotional. For god's sake he cried when he found out one of his favorite kpop girl groups disbanded. Of course, this was practically a year ago before changbin lost his memories and was separated from Felix, but the memory is still fresh in his mind.

"I've known Felix a while now, so my best guess is that he is upset for a couple of reasons. One, he failed to protect you when you most needed him. You were almost taken away by whoever that was, and he probably panicked. Second, he was dying. That right there kind of puts a damper on his mind. Trust me, I would know. And third, the fact that he was dying right in front of you probably broke his heart the most."

Changbin grunted, confused by that last part. "What? Why the hell would that matter? Besides, I saved him so he doesn't need to worry about that anymore."

Chan sighed, "Binnie...think about it. The person he loves the most just watched something as traumatizing as him dying in their arms. _Then_ you saved him, binding him to you for the rest of your life. He probably thinks you were forced to save him, he probably thinks he shackled himself to you making you give up your freedom. To top it all off, you did all of that without even having your memories of him back. To put it in easier terms, he most likely thinks he's some charity case you took pity on in the last moments. Now he doesn't want to face you. For all that is going on inside his mind, I have a hunch he convinced himself that you hate him now, or think he's a nuisance."

Changbin blinked back at Chan and woojin. "Wha..but...CHARITY case-" he spluttered. Does Felix honestly think that?

"Why wouldn't I like Felix? He's super cute. Anyone would love to be bonded to him. If anything, I'm the one who should be running off feeling sorry for myself. I'm the worst person on the planet to bond with. I'm emotionally unstable, I hate when people touch me, I'm hard to deal with. Why would someone like Felix ever want to be with someone like me?"

woojin chuckled. "Changbin, he adores you."

Now it was changbins turn to over react. He stood up, raising his voice slightly, but still not loud enough to wake the others. "Why?! I just don't get it. Why would anyone like me that much?! I didn't do anything special, Im definitely not some great catch. I'm sorry, but I just find it hard to believe someone like felix could ever possibly like me so much for no reason at all."

Chan smiled sadly at changbin, taking note of his red aura darkening even further. Ever since they were separated from the others, each of their auras dampened with negativity. At the time, Chan had no idea why, but once he got his memories back he understood.

Why couldn't changbin see how great of a person he was? Why must he always emotionally suppress himself from others? He was strong and passionate, kind and caring, and stable. Felix clearly saw this about him right away. In Chan's opinion, it's what Felix needs in his life, someone tough to anchor him down when things get to be too much. Even the sun's bright rays can be casted in shadow by clouds, and when Felix gets like this what he needs most is someone to snap him out of it.

Woojin thought this was as good a time as any to have a heart-to-heart. He motioned for changbin to sit down, the younger boy doing so while gritting his teeth. Chan grinned at that. Changbin was always a fighter.

"Felix didn't always grow up knowing exactly what he was. Same goes for hyunjin. They were normal children for the most part. his parents were both daemons, and had him when they were young, around 18 years old. He was 6 when they died at the age of 25. Right in front of him too. They tried their best to give him a good and happy life, but in the end they could only do so much. I'm not sure how much Felix remembers, but watching your own parents die right in front of you can't be healthy for a small child. It's probably what started Felix's emotional instability. He was taken to social services not long after that. he was at an orphanage for a short time before sir park sent men to bring him back with us. I was about 10 at the time and remember him coming to stay with me and minho."

Changbin nibbled on his lip, hating the thought of bubbly Felix going through so much on his own. But they were in their 20s now. That was such a long time ago.

Woojin continued, "The fact that Felix almost subjected you to what he had to go through might have been a bit of a shocker for him. Let's just give him some time to calm down before we go and bring him back. Besides, he's bonded to you for the rest of his life. You are literally what is keeping his heart going. You are his number one priority now and he can't stay away from you too long."

That still didn't settle changbins nerves, but it did help him calm the panic a little bit. He wanted to go and find Felix, wrap him in his arms and lock him up away from the world. A bit sadistic, but he hates the thought of losing Felix again. Yes, it was traumatizing watching him die, but it's even more traumatizing living on without him.

He sucked in a breath at that thought. When did he begin to care so much for a single person? It honestly terrified him how strong his feelings were for Felix.

Chan watched changbin closely, a slight red gleam to his eyes.  
"It's like that for all of us," he whispered, answering changbins thoughts. Woojin looked up at Chan with confusion on his face, but chose to keep quiet when he saw the red glint in his brown orbs. He was completely used to it by now.

Changbin glanced at chan and woojin, then out into the living room at the others. He doesn't doubt seungmin has been listening in, and did he see jisung's mouth twitch slightly as he kept his eyes closed and ran his fingers through minho's hair smoothing away the tangles?

He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Fine, I'll wait till he comes back. But he's in big trouble," he smirked, causing Chan and woojin to chuckle.

"Please don't tell us about your kinky ways," jisung whined with a raspy morning voice.

"Says the loser who gets off on the fact that minho has to have something to cuddle with while sleeping, and that something mysteriously ends up being you," seungmin snorted, closing his book. He tapped his chin in fake thought, "I wonder, what ever happened to that huge stuffed pig plushie minho got so that he could sleep better at night when you weren't around all that time?"

Jisung squinted his eyes up at seungmin from his spot on the floor, still buried under minho's sleeping form. "Nothing you can prove," he hissed back at his best friend.

A light laugh could be heard not far from jisung. "That poor plushie..." Jeongin said, his voice muffled from his blankets.

"Well don't you look cozy in my blanket," jisung shot back at him.

Jeongin didn't answer, making a point to nuzzle more into the warm blankets.

"Ugh he's heavy," jisung complained, nudging minho to get off of him. "Yo my dude, get the hell off me. I gotta pee."

"Did you just call your lover/boyfriend/husband 'my dude'?" Seungmin asked, laughing so hard that hyunjin grumbled at the movement, sitting up with sleepy eyes.

"Well it _was_ piece of shit, but love can really change a guy," jisung grunted as he shoved minho off of him without remorse. He quickly got up before minho could latch himself back onto him.

Once jisung was gone, minho sleepily patted around, making an agitated noise when he couldn't find what he was looking for. Without opening his eyes, he rolled over and attached himself to the nearest thing he could find, which happened to be jeongin.

Jeongin screeched as he was pulled closer to minho. He tried to get away before it was too late, but the blankets were in his way. He scraped his nails into the carpet, leaving small trails behind as he was dragged away.

Minho finally got what he wanted, rubbing his face into jeongin's shoulder as he swung a leg over his abdomen and went back to sleep. Jisung returned from the bathroom, laughing his ass off. Jeongin glared up at jisung with a grumpy face, his arms crossed over his chest as he was trapped on the ground by a sleeping minho.

"You owe me," he declared.

"I let you keep my blanket," jisung smugly answered back.

"As much as I love all of you, we still have some business to take care of," Chan told them loudly. "Unfortunately it can't wait until Felix gets back, so everybody gather around."

Minho grumbled and reluctantly let go of jeongin, sitting up and glaring at everyone while trying to wake up. Changbin rolled his eyes. Minho doesnt look half as scary as Felix does when he first wakes up in the morning. The fairy boy's dark and dangerous gaze when he's woken up truly excites changbin. He's got a problem, he knows it, and he doesn't care.

"Ok so what the hell happened?" Woojin asked them. Now that everyone knows he's alive, he doesn't see the point in staying hidden anymore.

Everyone looked to changbin to explain. He barely talked last night, too concerned for Felix and mentally exhausted from a ton of memories literally flooding his brain. Chan made sure everyone left him and Felix alone in the bedroom, and so they all went to sleep not long after.

Changbin cleared his throat. "I was just taking care of my shop like usual," here he swallowed a lump in his throat, now understanding why the place didn't feel right all these months. Where were Felix's plants? Where were his stupid sea green curtains, and doilies, and twice music playing in the background?

He tried again, refusing to let the others see the emotions he felt. "I was cleaning up, and noticed a couple guys fighting in front of my store. I wasn't going to tolerate them making a mess of things and preventing customers from coming by, so I opened the door and yelled at them. It was Felix and some dark haired guy. I thought Felix was in trouble," hyunjin snorted at this causing changbin to glare at him, "and I tried to help. Then the guy was all like 'come hither changbin, get away from that abomination,' and I was like 'da fuck?' and then Felix was all like 'no binnie stay behind me' and I was really like 'da fuck?' and the guy is all like 'get away from him, trust me instead' while holding a fucking knife, and then I was arguing with Felix and his sweater paws, and then the guy charged, and then everything was like pew pew and I was like 'ahhhh' and long story short I flipped the fuck out and slammed everyone around like ragdolls, lost control, bonded with Felix and ended up here."

Changbin took a breath from his rant, everyone still staring at him.

"Did he just fucking say 'sweater paws' and 'pew pew' in the same sentence?" Seungmin broke the silence. Hyunjin giggled, cuddling into seungmin's side, non-discreetly taking a whiff of his favorite lavender scent.

"Also Chan you bastard! I called you like 10 times!!" Changbin fumed.

Chan put up his hands in surrender. "I couldn't answer bin, it was important that I didn't."

Changbin squinted his eyes at chan in a death glare.

"Ok the more important question is where the hell is that guy that attacked you?" Woojin asked, ignoring their stare-down.

"Oh!! Seungmin and hyunjin were supposed to take care of that. Right guys?" Jisung asked, turning to the couple. They both smiled sweetly.

"Yeah, where'd you put him?" Jeongin asked.

"Once we dropped changbin and Felix off at Chan's last night, we went back and found a very special spot for the guy," hyunjin giggled.

Chan had a bad feeling about this. And for once, it wasn't because of his clairvoyance.

***

"You put him in my supply closet?" Chan asked incredulously.

"Duh, where else were we supposed to put him?" Seungmin asked. He was holding his slipper, just in case.

"My supply closet is not a holding cell, might I remind you guys," Chan argued.

Jisung and minho shivered at the thought. They stayed in the back of the group.

"Are you sure he's still alive?" Changbin asked.

"He's fine," hyunjin waved it off without a care in the world. Woojin gave him a reprimanding look.

"Well, only one way to find out," changbin said, grabbing the door knob and opening it up. Everybody tensed, ready to take action just in case. He raised his brows at the sight in front of him.

A young male around his mid twenties glared back at them, tied up and sitting on his ass in the middle of the closet. He had dark hair, and intense eyes. "oh look, you finally decided to grace me with your presence," he said snarkily.

"Did he just sass us?!" Jisung called out from the back. "Seungmin where's your newspaper, I'm going in!!"

Minho grabbed jisung with quick reflexes before he could launch himself right in the middle of danger. "Not so fast there, love. I don't want you going and killing both of us when we just found each other."

Jisung froze against his struggling, letting those words ring through his head. He has to get used to the fact that minho and him are literally one now. He can't be as careless as usual.

Minho noticed his change in demeanor, pulling him closer to his chest and tracing his lips up the side of his neck. "I didn't mean to scare you jisung. I don't care what happens to me, I just worry about who is going to protect you if im gone. I don't trust anyone else. You have to be more careful for yourself."

Jisung turned his neck and glared at minho, trying not to melt at the feel of his breath on his skin. "You better not be implying what I think you are implying. You are in no way a burden to me now just because we are anchored to each other. You mean everything to me, and I love you and would do anything for you. So enough of all this 'i don't care if I die, or I don't care if I'm gone' bullshit. Seungmin, Chan, and changbin would agree with me too." Jisung huffed, twisting out of minho's hold.

Seungmin, Chan, and changbin all nodded in agreement at jisung's words.

The prisoner stared at them with disgust on his face. "No way..." He glanced at seungmin, watching as hyunjin stood behind him trailing his fingers down his arms lovingly. He turned to minho, still trying to cling to jisung after their little outburst. Then he landed wide eyes on chan and woojin, standing together. His eyes finally squinted to changbin's tattoo on his wrist, which was on full display as he had his arms crossed over his chest. "You guys seriously bonded with those...those freaks?!"

Chan blinked a few times, "come again?"

"I can't believe this. Damn, they work fast, trapping you to them. I was hoping I would make it in time, but apparently coming here was all for nothing," the guy tsked.

"What is he talking about?" Jeongin whispered to woojin. Woojin shrugged.

"Quit spouting a bunch of shit, you lame mmph-" seungmin started to say, but hyunjin covered his mouth.

The guy gasped. "ME spout nonsense?! You guys are the ones obviously brainwashed and...you know what? I'm not having this conversation with you." And then he turned around so that his back was facing Chan and the others.

"Did he just turn his back on us?" Jisung ground out with a hiss.

"Apparently there's been a misunderstanding," Chan began. "We just want to talk." The guy snorted at this. "Believe me mate. We don't want to keep you prisoner or anything. We just want to know why you were trying to kill Felix and changbin."

"Alright, I already lost my patience," changbin growled out as he stepped into the closet, smacked his hand on the guy's shoulder and turned him around again so that he was facing them.

"Changbin don't do that again," hyunjin hissed, already by his side in case something goes wrong. "Felix would kick all of our asses if something bad happened to you because we weren't watching you properly."

Changbin let go of the guy and took a step back. "Oops, sorry. It's really hard to get used to being guarded now." Then he snorted. "And Felix is so soft and cuddly. I don't want him to strain himself trying to protect me."

This time it was woojin's turn to snort. "Believe me, Felix is not straining himself."

Changbin gave him a confused look. He knows the daimons are faster and stronger than the average person, but there's no way Felix could take on a bunch of guys bigger than him all at once. Maybe just one person like he did at the martial arts training day. Right?

Hyunjin smiled at the clueless face changbin was making, then he pecked his cheek and dragged him back with him next to seungmin. Seungmin squinted his eyes at the spot on changbin's cheek that hyunjin kissed, but chose to say nothing. For now.

"Alright, let's start over. Hi, my name is Chan. This is my daimon and husband woojin. These are our children. What is your name?"

The guy sniffed, turning his head away and refusing to acknowledge Chan.

"Alright, that's it," jisung elbowed his way to the front. He grabbed the guy by the collar and got in his face. "Listen here you punk ass bitch! Nobody, and I mean _nobody_ , ignores Chan like that. Now start talking before I have my gorgeous boyfriend rip your arms off!" Jisung shook the guy a few times while he was going off.

Minho chuckled, "Love, I'm not going to rip anyone's arms off. That's too messy."

Changbin and jeongin laughed. Seungmin escaped hyunjins protective hold and stood behind jisung with his slipper, glaring down at the annoying attacker.

The guy didn't seem to be frightened, which annoyed jisung even more.

Finally, he spoke. "If I didn't see the slight red and gold glints in your eyes, I honestly wouldn't be able to tell who was a daimon or who was a cherished. You guys are all insane."

Chan's eyes completely turned to red, studying the male as he chuckled. "Sorry about jisung. He just gets excited. I think we have a lot to learn from you, my friend. Now, how about you tell us more about your little group of outcasts. Or should I go and ask Ren?"

His eyes widened, and real fear could finally be seen in them. "How did you know-wait you know Ren? He's alive??" He whispered, his voice quivering. He quickly glanced at all the others, hope and disbelief in his eyes.

"Yeah, alive and still a pain in our asses," minho shot back at him.

"C-can I see him?"

"Why?" Jeongin asked.

"How do I know you aren't lying to me so that you get me to trust you and then you kill me like you've killed all the others?" He questioned back with venom in his voice.

"Trust me, if I wanted to kill you I would just go ahead right now and strangle your bitch ass-" jisung started to say, but woojin cut him off.

"What are you even talking about? Kill who?" Woojin stared at him in confusion.

The guy leaned forward, straining against his ties. "Wait, you're serious? You have no idea what's going on?" When woojin and the others blinked back at him he laughed out loud. Seungmin finally snapped and raised his hand with the slipper, but hyunjin quickly stopped him.

"Look, we have no problems letting you go. Just please tell us who you are and what's going on cause clearly we are kept in the dark about this." Chan tried to appease.

The guy blew his bangs out of his eyes. "Only if you let us see Ren again."

"You can keep him for all I care-" minho called out, but jeongin kicked him in the shin to shut him up.

He sighed. "Fine. My name is jonghyun, but I go by Jr. I am a cherished, and me and the others try to help protect other cherished from the daimons."

Changbin furrowed his brows at that. "Why the hell would us cherished need to be protected from the daimons that are sworn to protect us?" He glanced to woojin, but woojin just shrugged.

"I tried to help you before it was too late. Clearly that backfired," Jr told changbin. "That little demon with the pink hair was hovering by you before I could save you."

Changbin's lip curled at the way he was talking about felix. He _so_ was not in the mood, especially with Felix ignoring him at the moment. "That pink haired demon just so happens to be my boyfriend? Husband? Oh for fuck's sake what the hell are we calling ourselves, you guys?" He turned to woojin and the rest for help at putting a label on their relationships.

"How about 'life-partners'?" Seungmin suggested.

Changbin smiled. "I like that."

"Fine. Pink haired demon life-partner or whatever. Don't come crying to me when you're dead," jr sniffed.

"Seungmin, go get our emergency duck tape," jisung muttered.

"Why the fuck do you guys need emergency duck tape?!" Minho questioned.

"It's better if you don't know," seungmin giggled.

"Look, I don't want to be associated with any of you. I tried to help you out, but clearly you cherished are messed up in the head and don't want my help. Now let me go!" Jr struggled against the ties again. "And dammit why are these so tight!!"

Hyunjin smirked. "I'm a pro at bondages." Seungmin coughed at that.

Chan watched Jr struggle. "Alright. Changbin, untie him. He's free to go." Woojin glanced at his life-partner, but said nothing. "Just promise us you won't try to hurt anyone ever again."

"Whatever." Jr mumbled, looking away.

"Seriously?! We are just letting him go?! Just like that?!!" Jisung start throwing a fit.

"Yeah I'm with jisung for once!" Jeongin said.

"Let him go," woojin backed Chan up. Chan sent him a grateful smile. Changbin shrugged, bending down to untie jr. Jr stood up warily, rubbing his wrists from being stuck in the closet for so long. Everyone stepped away, letting him pass by.

When jr got to the door, he looked back at them. "You guys are one weird bunch. I've never seen cherished willingly devote their lives to a daimon before. Don't think this is the last you saw of me, especially with your promise to let us see Ren again." And with that, he was gone.

Chan and woojin stared after him, then woojin flicked his eyes to jeongin. "Follow him," he muttered. Jeongin heard loud and clear, and was out the door and down the street in less than a second.

"What in _hell_ is going on?" Jisung mumbled grumpily.

"Apparently there's more to the story than we know. That jr guy was obviously not gonna talk to us no matter how much we badgered him or promised him to see Ren. His aura was all over the place. He must be a very lost soul," Chan shook his head. "And he kept going on about daemons being evil. But clearly you guys are meant to protect us, so I want to know what he knows."

Minho nodded at his reasoning. "Fair enough. We'll wait and see where his little hideout is, and then go bashing through their front door ourselves."

"Now we're talking!" Hyunjin did a little dance.

Changbin sighed, a headache forming. He was still worried about Felix. He really shouldn't be wandering off with that guy on the loose now. Chan patted him on the back.

"Don't worry mate. We'll find Felix in the process."

Changbin still worried.

***

Two days have passed and still no word from jeongin or Felix. Woojin wasn't as worried about jeongin because he knows the younger boy is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He was worried about changbin though. The dark haired boy was growing more agitated as the minutes went by without his life-partner, and he practically snapped if someone so much as said a simple hello to him.

The others know changbin doesn't mean it, and they don't take it personally if they are in his line of harsh words. Chan watched as changbin's aura grew even more dark, and he finally came to the decision that he has to take matters in his own hands.

While changbin was just sitting on the couch staring blankly at the wall, Chan brought the others into his bedroom.

"Ok you guys. We don't have time to deal with their pointless lover's quarrel, and I think two days is plenty of time for Felix. We need to do something now, I'm not getting any younger here," Chan told them.

"Plus it's dangerous for changbin to be roaming around without protection. We don't mind watching over him, but if there is ever an attack, our own cherished come first before him. I know that sounds harsh, but..." Hyunjin looked down guiltily at what he was saying. Seungmin gripped his hand for reassurance.

"No, you're right hyunjin. Our own cherished take top priority if it ever comes down to it. We love changbin, but it's time for Felix to get his head out of his ass," minho agreed.

"Plus it's unfair to changbin. He's been through so much as it is, being thrown into this world last minute and then waking up without the one person who he sacrificed his normal life for," jisung argued.

"Ok so what are we gonna do for them?" Woojin asked.

"Well, first we need to get in contact with Felix," Chan began. "Then we need Felix to want to approach changbin of his own free will."

"How the hell are we going to do that?" Seungmin asked.

"That's the part I need help with. What would get Felix to approach changbin??" Chan thought out loud.

"He's super protective. We can like, push changbin down the stairs and hope he comes to the rescue?" Jisung suggested.

Woojin glared at him. "Anything better?"

"Well...Felix is pretty possessive of changbin. Honestly, I don't even know why changbin isn't bothered by it, that would drive me insane," seungmin said.

"Ohhh I could go and flirt with him!!" Hyunjin piped in excitedly.

"No!" Seungmin yelled, a little too harshly. Hyunjin blinked back at his cherished, and a sly grin started to form on his face. He bent down, poking seungmin's reddening cheeks. "It would seem Felix isn't the only one being possessive, hmm?" Seungmin slapped his hand away, but not denying it.

"Wait, seungmin is on to something. How about we go take changbin for a night out to kind of take his mind off of the stress. And we can find and invite Felix too," woojin began, an idea forming in his mind.

"That sounds fun!" Jisung jumped in.

"I think this could work. Now all we need to do is get in touch with Felix and let him know his man is going to be taken if he doesn't get his emo ass back," minho laughed.

Chan's brows furrowed at that last statement. "Wait, I thought since we are all life-partners we can't be with anyone else? Felix would never fall for someone taking changbin from him."

Woojin shook his head. "The bond doesn't form like that. We aren't soulmates or anything. It only forms when we willingly give up our blood to the cherished. No where does it say we have to love the cherished. We are free to go and love anyone we want, same goes for the cherished. All that we are obligated to do is protect our cherished from harm. However, 7 times out of 10, the daimons and cherished usually fall in love, because it's hard to keep that kind of commitment towards each other platonic."

Chan frowned at that, not liking that answer. Woojin smiled at his obviously disappointed face. He leaned in close to Chan's face, forcing the light blonde haired boy to look up at him. "Luckily for me, I fell in love with only you, regardless of the bond," he whispered, brushing his lips gently against Chan's as he said this.

"And that's a wrap you guys!" Jisung said, heading for the door. "I so don't want to stay and find out what happens further."

Minho smirked at this, following jisung out. "You're just jealous cause that isn't us in our own bedroom doing all kinds of things."

"Am not!" Jisung yelled back at him.

"I'm jealous," hyunjin pouted. "The things I could be doing to seungmin right now-"

Seungmin slapped his palm over his mouth. "Would you quit being so open about our lives behind doors?" He hissed. Then he dragged hyunjin out of the room.

"Finally," woojin exhaled, walking super fast to the door and shutting it tight. "Now, where was I?" he asked Chan.

"About to kiss the fuck out of me?" Chan happily supplied, gripping woojin's shirt collar and dragging him closer so there was no more space between them.

"Yeah and a lot more," woojin promised as he connected their lips in a heated kiss.

***

"Trust me changbin, this will be fun." jisung told his friend, fixing his hair. They were all headed for a fun night out, and jisung and the others made it their mission to make changbin look mouth watering hot.

Changbin grunted, perking up at the thought of relaxing a bit at the club. Anywhere there was music, changbin was always game to go.

Jisung and hyunjin have been fussing over changbin for well over an hour. "Uh guys, is this really necessary? I'm not going to be dancing or anything, you know that."

They ignored him, adding the final touches. When they were done, minho and Chan walked in, whistling at what they saw.

"Damn changbin," Chan said, proud at how gorgeous his friend looked. Not that he didn't look hot before, but he was smoking hot now.

Jisung grinned, flipping imaginary hair with his hand. Then he high fived hyunjin. They decided to go with the whole 'bad boy' look for binnie. His hair was stylishly messed up, he had on tight leather pants with chains around his hips and black combat boots. He was wearing a tight black T-shirt that showed off his sexy build, and his eyes had on a light smoky eye shadow. It was nothing major, but enough to give him an intense dangerous vibe that will no doubt excite tons of people in the club. His pissed off attitude also helps with the look.

"Now I know why Felix is so possessive of him. He's going to have to gnaw off everyone's hands from touching changbin," seungmin whispered to woojin. Woojin agreed.

"You too," woojin nodded in hyunjin's direction. Hyunjin was wearing a flowy dark Navy dress shirt half tucked into skin tight black jeans. His hair was flipped showing his forehead and his makeup was gold lining his eyes.

Seungmin pursed his lips. "I know. Same goes for you and jisung though."

Woojin glanced at chan with want, licking his lips. He was wearing something similar to changbin, but had on a black silk dress shirt and black eyeliner. Delicate silver bracelets decorated his wrists and a silver necklace was hanging from his neck.

His eyes reluctantly left Chan's gorgeous figure when he noticed jisung fussing over minho.

"I told you to put on the harness over your shirt!" Jisung yelled at him.

Minho whined. "But how am I supposed to dance with that thing weighing me down?!" He did a body roll for demonstration. "See, I got the groove when I'm just wearing the light shirt, but if I wear that bear trap around my waist I'll just look like a dying whale flopping around on the beach!"

"But what am I supposed to look at now?! Seungmin??? He's like a local librarian to me!" Jisung argued back.

Seungmin grunted for getting dragged into this. "First of all, I look damn good, thank you very much-"

"Yeah you do," hyunjin purred.

"And second of all, doesn't it bother you that your boyfriend is going to be flaunting himself in front of tons of people at the club, especially if you make him wear a harness?"

Jisung blinked at seungmin. "No? Why would I be bothered when I know they all want what's mine? If he's gonna look hot, I want him to look hella hot."

Changbin gagged in the background.

"Especially if he dances in this," jisung held up the harness.

"Okay! That's enough of that. We don't need details of what turns you on," Chan interrupted. Jisung just shrugged without regret. Minho secretly found it amusing.

____

The music in the club was super loud, and there were a ton of people already there. Neon lights were flashing everywhere on the dance floor, but there were also nice tables and boothes to sit at. Jisung and everyone quickly claimed 2 tables and boothes for themselves. On the other side of the club was a nice bar and stools to get drinks. The place was wild enough to party in, but also mature enough where nothing too shady or crazy could happen.

"Now, I don't want you guys to drink any alcohol, especially with what's going on lately. But I also want you guys to go have a good time. Deal?" Chan told everyone.

They all nodded. Even though it would take a hell of a lot of alcohol for minho, hyunjin, woojin, jeongin and Felix to get tipsy or even drunk, minho agreed that it still wasn't safe to drop their guards just yet.

"Damn Chan, how the hell did you get us in such an awesome and expensive place?" Hyunjin exclaimed.

"I know a few guys that know a couple guys that own this. We rapped together underground before." Chan shrugged.

"Ok but how are we going to know Felix will show up?" Seungmin whispered without changbin paying attention.

Woojin smirked. "I handled that. All I had to do was leave a message on his phone about how much I missed him all this time I was pretending to be dead, and how I really wanted to spend a good time with him. I also added in a few sobs, claiming he must hate me for deceiving him all this time. Worked like a charm. He texted me asking for the address and said he will be here."

"Damn, guilt tripping him into coming. That's evil," jisung shook his head. Then he grinned. "I love it."

"We don't have the time to deal with his insecurities. I would rather have him mad at me and at home than have him wandering out there with crazy people hunting us. Plus it's not fair to changbin. He's being inconsiderate." Woojin huffed.

"Ok, well, the party don't start till I walk in." Minho declared, swaying his hips to the music and grabbing jisung's hand. They left for the dance floor.

"That's our cue to go," hyunjin whispered in seungmin's ear, causing the young doctor to shiver. Hyunjin grabbed him by the waist and led him away from their tables.

"Hold down the fort for us, ok binnie?" Chan asked, threading his arms around woojins neck and pushing him into the crowd. Woojin waved goodbye without taking his eyes off his cherished.

Changbin harumphed at all of them pairing off and leaving him. But he decided to get a soda and chill at their booth, taking this rare opportunity to relax and enjoy himself. He was still pissed off though, an underlying anger never leaving him.

"Ok when is he supposed to be here? It's been 20 minutes already!! Changbin is going to get bored if we leave him alone for too long" jisung whisper-shouted to Chan.

"He should be on his way," woojin answered. They were currently huddled by the bar, trying to keep an eye on changbin without being noticed.

"There he is!" Seungmin hissed, nudging everyone in the direction towards the entrance. "You think he will spot changbin?"

"He can't miss him. He looks all bad ass in that corner with his boots propped up on the table in front of him," minho reassured seungmin.

"Damn, he really does look good. Both of them actually," hyunjin commented. Felix had on a somewhat revealing green and white silk shirt with dark pants that hugged his legs. There were slits at the thighs and knees, revealing slivers of skin that practically begged to be touched. He had fierce black eyeliner with a light peach shimmer on his eyelids that matched his hair, and a light lip tint making his lips noticable but not obnoxious. A golden earring dangled down from his ear and he was wearing a delicate golden chain as a choker.

"Do you think felix will like changbin's look?" Jisung asked worriedly.

"Oh he definitely will," Chan nodded his head, his eyes glinting red in the club lights.

"Yeah and so does that guy," woojin commented. They all snapped their heads in the direction of some guy dancing his way up to changbin. Changbin gave him a curious look, listening to what the guy was saying.

"Uh oh" hyunjin whispered. "What if Felix sees?"

"Too late," minho cackled. "We might have to help Felix hide a dead body tonight jinnie."

"Wait, seriously," seungmin asked worriedly. But the look on Felix's face was confirmation enough.

"Ok guys. Looks like our work here is done!" Chan clapped his hands and started herding the others away to give changbin and Felix some alone time.

___

Felix walked into the club, quickly searching for his friends. His hands were shaking slightly and he could hear his heart pounding in his chest louder than the music.

He was scared.

No, scratch that. He was terrified of seeing changbin again now that he has all of his memories back. Don't get Felix wrong, he's beyond overjoyed that changbin anchored himself with him, but there's a small part of him that was worried changbin wouldn't want him anymore. What if he realizes he made a mistake saving him? Who would ever want to be linked to an emotionally scarred crybaby for the rest of their long life?

Certainly not changbin. Especially after that comment he made when they were being attacked, how Felix wasn't his type and all. After he woke up and realized what changbin did to save him, he had time to think about some things. Which lead him to come to the conclusion that changbin was right. Felix doesn't match with him at all. Changbin was all hard angles, super muscular and grumpy, with that sexy 'pissed off leave me alone' vibe. He's not gentle at all when he kisses and he's quick to lose his temper. Felix loves it.

Making up his mind, Felix was about to turn away and head back out of the club. But what he saw made him stop before he even had a chance of moving an inch. He clicked his teeth and his upper lip curled in disgust.

There sitting in a corner booth was changbin with his feet propped up on a low table in front of him and his arms hanging off the back of the seat. He looked delicious, but Felix was too angry to focus on that right now.

Felix watched with hatred as some clubber guy danced his way right up to changbin, too near for Felix's comfort. Felix took a deep breath through his nose, trying to calm down.

_It's okay Felix. Nothing to worry about. Changbin hates it when people come near him. He will tell that poor guy to piss off and then you can leave like nothing happened._

But what happened next both shocked Felix and pissed him off to the point of violence. The guy leaned down, whispering something in changbin's ear. Changbin smiled up at them, letting them lightly touch his bicep without shoving them off of him.

Felix snapped. All rational thought flew out the door. Everything around him faded from sight. The music was gone, the other people, his own fears and hesitation, all of it disappeared. The only thing he could focus on was changbin and somebody that clearly didn't belong near him.

That was Felix's spot! Changbin was _his_ cherished! How dare they touch what belonged to him?!!

Felix stomped over to changbin, shoving the guy away so hard that he practically went flying. He could care less.

"hey! I was talking to him!" The other guy cried out, getting his footing back and rubbing his arm where Felix made contact.

Felix glared, barely sparing a glance over at him. "Yeah... WAS."

Then he switched his death glare to changbin, who sat there with a cocky smirk on his face and an eyebrow raised in amusement. The terrifying look Felix was giving him should make him frightened, but instead he was giddy in excitement.

Finally, Felix was here with him.

Felix knocked changbin's boots off the table, letting them slam to the ground. Without a second to waste, he then swings his leg over changbin and sits in his lap, straddling him. Changbin smirks up at Felix, moving his hands from the back of the booth and running them up his thighs, his fingers slipping through the ripped material of his pants and gripping hard, but still not hard enough for Felix's liking. They both felt like they were on fire, the tension finally becoming too much.

"Open," changbin growled out. It almost seemed like deja vu, but Felix gladly complied, leaning down and connecting their lips. It was a desperate, hungry kiss. Felix ran his hands through changbins hair, burying his fingers deep and tugging his head up and to the side slightly so he could go in deeper with his tongue. The kiss became sloppy and rough, with tongue and teeth. Changbin bit Felix's full bottom lip harshly, bruising him: a punishment for leaving him. They eventually parted slightly for a second before Felix tilted his head and switched sides. changbin grabbed the back of his neck to reconnect their lips, no where near finished with him. Felix was pressed against him, too close but not close enough.

After several minutes later, everyone else around them forgotten, they broke apart panting, their chests rising and falling rapidly, trying to gasp for air.

"You left me," changbin accused him, leaning in for another kiss, another touch from felix.

Felix smirked against his mouth. "Did you miss me?"

"And if I said no?" Changbin taunted.

"Then why are you holding on to me so tight, like I'm going to run away?"

Changbin stopped kissing Felix, glancing down at his hands. They were gripping Felix's slender waist so tight, it probably left bruises. He eases up, but only a little. His heart was beating at an impossible rate, and his tattoo was burning on the inside of his wrist. He looked back up at Felix with wide wine-red eyes.

Felix sucked in a breath at the look in his eyes. All of his doubts from before suddenly were gone.

Felix _gets_ it. He finally gets it, and it makes him want to cry from happiness.

Changbin doesn't regret saving him, he doesn't think he's a nuisance. The proof was in the way changbin was looking at him. It was in the way changbin was holding onto his waist so tight that some people might misunderstand it as being anger or violence, but in truth it was none of those things.

Felix finally realized changbin was holding on tight because he was scared, and that thought both broke his heart and made him fall a little bit more in love with him at the same time.

Because Changbin was never gentle with the things he's most afraid of losing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Vibes" by Tove Lo
> 
> Hi everyone, I'm back! Sorry it took a while, but I was sick for a few weeks and super busy. I didn't proof read this, so I will edit it later. 
> 
> Check out my Twitter for playlists for each of my fics. 
> 
> This is only the first half of the chapter. I split it because it was getting kind of long.


	26. Yellow Flicker Beat

“Okay, as much as this is a romantic moment and all that shit, we have to go, like now,” woojin told them. 

Felix and changbin broke apart, gasping for breath and cheeks flushed. Felix grinned up at woojin while running his fingers through changbin’s hair trying to fix it. “Five more minutes?”

Woojin shook his head. “Nope, jeongin called. He wants us to go and meet him right now. He finally found where that asshole that attacked you guys lives.”

Felix’s eyes flashed amber in anger at the abrupt reminder of their current situation. Turning back to changbin, he gave him one last drawn out kiss that made the dark haired boy shiver, and then he slowly peeled himself off of changbin.

“I want to have a few words with them,” he declared sweetly and darkly at the same time.

“No can do lixie,” minho chuckled. “We all know you’re just gonna go ape shit and try and kill them for coming near changbin.”

“I regret nothing,” felix humphed, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting. Changbin chuckled, getting up from the booth and kissing his cheek, then wrapping an arm around felix’s waist. Felix melted into his side while everyone else just gaped at them in shock.

Changbin glared at them. “What? Why is everybody staring at me?” 

Chan shook his head with a smile. “Its nothing changbinnie. Im just glad to see you arent opposed to touching felix. I always worried about you.”

Felix smirked. “He can touch me anytime, anywhere-”

“Oooohhhhhkaaayyyy,” jisung butted in. “now that this is settled, lets hippity hop on over there and beat the shit out of that JR guy.”

“And Ren!” hyunjin yelled out over the music.

They started to head out of the club, following woojin’s lead. Seungmin was walking next to woojin when the older boy gently grabbed his arm. “You got a minute?”

Seungmin tilted his head to the side in curiosity. “Yeah, whats up?” 

Hyunjin took note of their quiet conversation, but didnt say anything. 

Woojin sighed, “i know your abilities are a bit unpredictable, but is it possible to be able to see into the near future and find out if anything tragic is going to happen?” 

Seungmin was quiet for a minute, thinking. “I know this might sound crazy…” he began. “But i think my abilities are getting more stable or stronger?”

Woojin continued to walk side by side with the cherished. “How so?” he asked quietly.

“Well, the day i was attacked, i saw myself about to die. That has never happened before. I could never see anything about myself, only the people around me. Only people i cross paths with, but never myself. The only time im included in my predictions is if im at the place the tragedy is going to happen.” 

Woojin thought about that some more. “Got any ideas why that is?”

“Honestly? I think its because of hyunjin.” 

Woojin stopped walking, glancing over at seungmin. “Hyunjin? Why?” 

Seungmin sighed. “Ive been thinking about this a lot for the past few days and the only conclusion i can come to is that something happened when we bonded. I feel...more stable? Grounded? My head has been clear and i slowly have been able to see the future more on a whim. Before, my predictions would come and go without my control, but now…” seungmin shook his head in amazement. 

Woojin frowned at this. “In that case, if bonding to hyunjin helped stabilize you, then in theory would that work for jisung, changbin, and chan as well?”

Seungmin shrugged. “I dont see why not. Changbin is the most unpredictable out of all of us. If we want to prove this theory correct, he’s the one you are going to have to observe.”

Woojin shook his head at the suggestion. “No, that wont be necessary. Felix has changbin covered. If he ever gets out of control i trust that felix will be able to help him. Same with me and chan or minho and jisung. Our jobs are to protect you cherished at all cost, even from yourselves.” 

Seungmin smiled at that. “I think you guys were created for us more than just serving and protection. I believe there is another purpose for your existence. But again, its just a working theory i have.” 

Another purpose? Woojin racked his brain, but could come up with nothing. He decided to talk to chan about it later. 

“Just...do you think you can keep an eye on things. You know, make sure nobody is going to accidentally trip and fall into traffic or get pushed down some stairs?” 

Seungmin laughed at that. “You got it boss. The first signs of impending doom, and you will be the first to know.”

Woojin smiled, reaching over and patting his head. “Thanks, i owe you one.”

When woojin walked on ahead, hyunjin sidled up next to seungmin. “What was that about?”

Seungmin linked his arm through hyunjin’s, leaning into his side. “Just a promise to make sure everyone is safe.” 

Hyunjin looked at him a bit confused, but chose to let it go. 

***

“Pssstt guys! Over here!” someone hissed from across the parking lot. 

Woojin and minho went first, surveying the surrounding area. They were in an industrial neighborhood. Office buildings, warehouses, and businesses were all over the place. The buildings made it easy to hide from sight, but it also made it easy for anyone else to pop out and ambush them. The cursed werent taking any chances.

“Felix, i’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, you dont need to keep me behind your back-mmph,” changbin started to complain and argue, but was shut up with a kiss to his lips. 

“No arguing binnie,” felix said with finality after he ended the kiss. Changbin licked his lips, his heart racing at the sudden affection. This was something he was going to have to get used to, and fast, with how clingy felix naturally is.

“Jeongin?” jisung called out. “Sweetie, you need to show yourself. Im not a bionic human and can just see magically in the dark.”

“Just get over here,” jeongin hissed. He was hiding behind a building, waving his hand for them to join him quickly. They all jogged to the building and hid with him. 

“Ok, so what on earth is going on? And you look like shit by the way,” hyunjin whispered to the younger boy. Jeongin grunted, not denying the accusation. He hasnt showered in two days.

“Who cares what is going on? Lets just charge out there and get this over with so i can go back to bed. I honestly think the hospital believes me and seungmin were murdered and the body disposed of with how long we’ve been gone. Minho can just go and beat everyone up,” jisung ranted.

“Im glad you trust me to easily guard and protect you, love. But im not gonna go rambo on every single person you hate,” minho huffed. To the others he muttered, “and trust me, thats a lot of people.” 

Woojin snorted at that. “Nobody is gonna start shooting up the place. We need to observe the area, figure out what JR and the rest of them are up to, and plan everything carefully. Jeongin, please continue.” 

Jeongin cleared his throat, but still managed to talk softly so his voice didnt carry in the quiet night. It was nearing midnight, and not a soul was in sight. It would be easy to hear jeongin and the others talking if they turned down a close enough street. 

“Ok so i followed that JR guy like you wanted me to do. I think he caught on that he could be followed, because he kept weaving down useless streets and circling back around different neighborhoods. Thats why it took so damn long to get to this place even though its like a 30 minute drive away from chan’s. I dont blame him though. I would do the same thing in case i thought i was being tracked.”

“Did he notice you were following him?” felix asked.

Jeongin snorted. “He might have suspected, but pssshh, nobody can get away from me when im tracking.” 

At changbin’s look of confusion, felix whispered, “he’s the best tracker in the agency. That’s why he was put on our team so soon despite being younger than us. If someone needs to be found, jeongin is your guy.”

“Ok, so which building are they in?” chan asked.

Jeongin pointed to a tall office building on the other side of the street from where they were standing. “Its that one over there. Its disguised as a computer software building. Basically they sell data plans and shit like that to the public.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” hyunjin hissed. “Are they from that shitty mobile plan i had last year? Because i got ripped off like 200 bucks from them and i still havent gotten my money back yet!” 

“Shhh, who gives a shit about your old mobile plan? They are the ones that have been trying to kill us for like a year now,” seungmin tried to calm hyunjin down.

“Having a slow internet speed and like, no data is the same thing as death in my book,” hyunjin argued stubbornly.

Seungmin patted his arm, “whatever you say sweetie.”

“Cant we just barge in there right now while they are sleeping and demand an explanation?” minho asked. “The element of surprise and all that good stuff?”

Woojin, chan, and jeongin shook their heads. “No, it would be best to come during business hours, when we know they are all in the building. Im assuming they dont actually live and sleep in the building, but somewhere close by. We can follow them home one day and find that out as well,” jeongin explained.

“Ok, sounds like a plan to me,” woojin said proudly to the younger boy. He has full confidence that jeongin will be the best in their agency one day. 

Seungmin yawned, tired from all of this roundabout planning they have been doing. “So we coming back here in the morning?” 

“Yep!” chan announced, and then started to quietly head out of the industrial neighborhood. The rest soon followed. 

“Do you think we should report this to Sir Park?” hyunjin asked. “I mean, afterall we practically found who has been trying to kill the cherished for the past year.”

“It would make sense to report it but…” felix began, biting his bottom lip with worry. 

“But what?” changbin asked, looking up at his cherished. For some reason, he gets the feeling hes not going to like what comes out of felix’s mouth next. 

“But...normally when we eliminate a threat to the cherished we guard, we just pack up and move on to the next city to protect the next cherished. We dont ever stay in one place for too long.”

Changbin curled his upper lip in annoyance at that. “But youre _my_ daemon from now on. You dont need to protect any other cherished now that you have me. Tell that park loser to piss off.”

Felix smiled at changbin, not wasting a second to grip his shirt and drag him so that he could get another taste of his cherished’s soft lips for the hundredth time this night. 

“Ok, break it up you two. I _so_ dont need this at like one in the morning,” seungmin grumbled. 

Felix chuckled as changbin softly trailed his lips down his jaw and neck. “He’s just jealous binnie. He wishes hyunjin is doing stuff like this to him instead.”

Seungmin blushed, even though no one could see it in the dark night. “No! Im just tired and want to go home and-”

Hyunjin curled an arm around his waist. “If thats how you really felt, all you had to do was say something.” he then leaned down and pecked seungmin’s warm cheek.

“I hate all of you,” seungmin grumbled. But then he grabbed hyunjin’s hand and started to march off in the direction of his home. 

“Ok, anyways. Meet back here tomorrow morning so that we can have a little chat with our friends,” woojin ordered everyone.

“Sir yes sir!” jisung laughed as he tugged on minho’s shirt so that they could go home. 

The others went in their slightly opposite directions as well.

***

“Hey chan?” woojin softly called out in the dark of their room. It was nearing 2am and even though woojin should be asleep so that he can rest up for tomorrow, he couldnt help but think about what seungmin said earlier.

“Hmm?” chan hummed half asleep, rolling over to face woojin. 

“Sorry, did i wake you? It can wait until morning-” 

“No, tell me whats on your mind,” chan mumbled, reaching out to hold woojin’s hand. He rubbed his thumb on the back of woojin’s hand in soothing circles, urging him to continue.

Woojin sighed, dragging chan closer to him. It was almost a protective gesture, curling his body around chan’s so that nothing in the world can get to him. His heart was racing as worry started to creep in on him. 

It was worry for chan.

“It’s just...seungmin said something that got me thinking,” woojin began.

Chan smiled into woojin’s chest. “That boy is always thinking. Im glad hyunjin is there to take his mind off of things from time to time.” 

“Well, yeah. Its just, he mentioned his abilities as a cherished have become a bit more stable since bonding with hyunjin. They’ve become...stronger i guess? He’s starting to grab more control on his predictions and is even able to sift through the future more by himself.”

Chan looked up, but woojin noted there wasnt any surprise on his face. “Oh really? Thats great news then.”

Woojin gave him a look. “You arent shocked by this news. Of course you arent. Ok spill, what is it that you know. Did you get another feeling?”

Chan shook his head. “No, no _feelings_ this time. Its as seungmin said. Since bonding to you, my abilities have gotten more intense. _Both_ of them.”

Woojin gulped at that. He was right to worry. 

“Now you’re worried,” chan said. It wasn’t a question. 

“Of course i am! What if something happens to you, or what if someone finds out the extent of what you can do? Of what _all_ of you can do.” he was silent for a moment, then sucked a breath in. “how bad is it?”

Chan chuckled lightly. “Its nothing bad, woojinnie.  I’ve started to sense things more, kind of like an information overload. I can feel the auras of all living things, not just humans, but its still a bit dull. And my head is swarming with information. I need to control it a bit better, is all.”

“Wait, other living things like plants and animals?” woojin asked. 

“Well...yes and then some,” chan answered vaguely. “Im still working out all of the kinks.”

Ok, woojin kind of has to admit that was cool. But his worry still didnt go away despite chan’s confidence and reassurance. “How long has this been happening?”

Chan thought about it a moment while snuggling and getting closer to woojin. He liked it when woojin coddled him like he was fragile. “Hmmm, its been coming and going ever since we bonded a few months back. I didnt notice it at first, but its been slowly trickling in as the days go by and as we get closer. I think...the more intimate our relationship is the more intense my abilities get.” 

“So does this mean i have to stop loving you?” woojin wondered. 

Chan glared up at him, leaning away a little. “That’s not very funny.” 

“Ok, ok, im sorry. You know i wasn’t being serious,” woojin laughed. 

“Dont ever joke like that again,” chan said as he leaned in and squinted at woojin. Despite the threatening glare, woojin still thought chan looked cute. 

Chan nodded, and then went back to cuddling woojin, pulling the blanket up higher so that he was warm and comfy. The room went back to being silent and woojin could finally drift off to sleep. 

Just as he was about to get some much needed rest, chan whispered against his skin. “Woojinnie?”

Woojin just grunted, finding it ironic how chan is the one that cant sleep now. “Yeah?”

“Do you really not believe in soulmates?” 

Woojin opened his eyes, shuffling a bit to look at chan properly. “Why do you want to know?”

Chan huffed. “Ok, dont think this is silly or anything, but it honestly upsets me at the thought that we dont have soulmates. Do you believe in them?”

Woojin blinked while seriously thinking about this. “Well...i had no reason to believe in them. I know many people think the concept of having a soulmate out there is comforting, and that one day we may find ours. But my short life span left little room for hope that i would find mine. To answer you honestly, no i dont believe in them. Do you?”

Chan frowned. “Of course i do! I love the idea of having someone just for me. Whatever you guys may say, i will still believe in having a soulmate. How could i not, when i already found mine?” 

Woojin laughed, kissing the top of chan’s head. “Stop being so cheesy! But if soulmates did exist, i would want you to be mine too. Now go to sleep, we have a long day ahead of us.”

Chan grunted, getting himself comfortable again. “Fine. but one day i might find my proof that soulmates do exist, and then we’ll see who’s laughing.”

“Whatever you say channie. And how will you know when you find that proof?”

Chan smiled, his eyes glinting a soft red in the dark room. “Easy. ill just have a feeling.”

Woojin groaned, rolling his eyes and ignoring his cherished. “you and your stupid feelings.” 

Finally they both let sleep take over.

***

“Ok is everyone here?” woojin asked the gathering of people.

“Unfortunately,” changbin said as he yawned. 

Seungmin laughed at his misery. Getting up early was a normal part of his daily life, so he was wide awake. “At least you arent like those two over there.” he nodded in the other direction.

Minho and jisung both heard the snide comment and glared over at seungmin. They looked grumpy and like they were going to murder someone. 

“Maybe if chan and woojin didnt wake us up at death-o-clock in the morning, i would be the normal ball of sunshine that i usually am,” jisung hissed while wrapping his arms around minho and burying his face in his chest to block out the rising sun.

Minho held jisung, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, who the hell wakes a person up at 6 in the morning on their day off? We literally just said goodbye to you guys like 5 seconds ago.”

“You arent a ball of sunshine even when you are fully awake,” changbin shot back at jisung. 

“Youre just upset because felix left you to go back to their ominous headquarters with hyunjin and report back to sir poop,” jisung stuck out his tongue.

Changbin tsked, not denying it. He woke up to a kiss from felix saying he was going to be back in a few hours. 

Jeongin yawned, clearly needing more sleep than he has gotten in the past three days. “Whatever, lets just get this over with,” he muttered. 

“Not until felix and hyunjin are back,” woojin told him. “I want everybody to be present. Plus, i want answers on how they know Ren. if i recall, all of us should’ve had our identities wiped clean when we joined the agency. It makes it easier when we travel from place to place and it keeps the government out of our hair.” 

“Makes sense,” seungmin added with a nod. 

While waiting for felix and hyunjin to return, they decided to scope out the place as all of the businesses started opening for the busy day ahead of them. Well, everyone except jisung and minho. Minho plopped himself on the first comfy bench he could find, and jisung wasted no time sitting in his lap and going back to sleep. They both really hate early mornings. 

It was about 9 in the morning when changbin heard a distant ‘binnie.’ he lifted his head and turned in the direction of his name. 

“BINNIEEEE!!!” felix yelled, skipping his way over to changbin at an unnatural pace. Changbin stood up, a slight smirk of amusement on his face as he watched felix’s pink hair bob over through the steady flow of people coming in and out of the buildings around them. 

“He is so embarrassing,” seungmin chuckled as noticed a few people give them funny looks at how loud felix was being in the morning. 

“Shut the fuck up,” jisung said groggily as he got up from minho’s lap. Minho stretched his legs out while yawning. He may be super strong, but having a full grown (albeit small) boy on his lap for nearly 2 hours without moving can take its toll on his thighs. 

“Oof!” changbin breathed out as felix ran straight at him and gave him a huge hug. Next thing he knew, felix was kissing the hell out of him in broad daylight. 

“Ugh,” seungmin rolled his eyes, turning the other way, only to be met face to face with hyunjin looking too gorgeous for his own good at 9 in the morning. 

Hyunjin smiled at seungmin, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. If it was up to him, he would be doing the same exact thing felix was doing in that moment. But he was mindful with seungmin’s shyness about public displays of affection, and kept it to a minimum until they were alone. 

“Ok, so what did he say?” jeongin cut in. 

“He said that he doesnt know about this random JR guy and that he will look into it right away. They should be over here within the hour to detain them, since they have been trying to cause harm to the cherished for a year now,” hyunjin told the younger boy.

Felix finally let go of a dazed changbin to add in, “it was super weird though you guys.”

“What was?” minho asked.

“Sir park. He looked all tired and shit, and he was sweating really badly. I almost told him to go take a shower or something. Maybe he’s coming down with something?” 

Woojin frowned at that. As far as he knows, cherished arent supposed to get sick. They are blessed with great health and long lives, and sir park has been living for close to a hundred years now. He’s still considered a 30 year old in the lifespan of a cherished. Not too old, but not too young. 

“Ok well, lets get some information out of them before park comes with his special clean up crew. Did you tell him about them knowing ren?” woojin asked felix and hyunjin. 

Felix shook his head. “Nope, not until we find out what’s going on. It could be just a coincidence or maybe that JR guy has some freak obsession over ren or something. We wouldnt sell a fellow member out like that, even if he is annoying.”

“Plus we owe him one for what he did for us with our cherished,” hyunjin added in. 

Minho nodded. “Fine, you guys are right. Now let’s go, time is ticking before we dont have a chance to see this JR guy anymore.” 

They all nodded and headed across the street towards the average looking office buidling. 

“Everybody, act normal,” chan whispered. “Like we’re not about to go busting into a random office building and demanding ransom money.” 

“Sure. we totally look normal,” seungmin snorted sarcastically. “We’ve got the next top models walking side by side down the street like its a runway, crazy psycho blonde kid with anger issues stomping on the concrete, bubbly pink haired boy clinging to the next head of the country’s mafia, and boy next door following behind the walking dead and papa bear.” 

Chan gasped, “seungmin, dont call jeongin ‘the walking dead,’ thats not very nice.”

“I was talking about you chan hyung,” seungmin sighed. 

“I do _not_ have anger issues!” jisung snarled at seungmin. 

“Why does everyone think i run some kind of motorcycle gang or something?” changbin sighed. “You better watch it, debbie downer,” he shot back at seungmin.

Before seungmin could argue back, they were standing in front of huge glass doors that lead into the office building. Inside was an empty lobby with two secretaries at the front desk. What they really needed was to reach the elevator or even the stairs that lead into the building. 

“Great, the entrances into the building are within sight of the security cameras and the secretaries at the front desk,” jeongin grumbled. “If we want to take them by surprise, we are gonna have to avoid both and make it to the top floor.”

“How are we supposed to get past those girls there?” seungmin asked. 

Minho smirked over at hyunjin. “I guess this is where we come in, huh jinnie?” 

Hyunjin grinned back at minho and held out his hand for the older boy. Minho took his hand and intertwined their fingers. They turned to their friends and posed in the ‘act natural but look like a model’ kind of way.

Hyunjin ran a hand through his hair, and minho rolled up his sleeves, messed up his hair, and unzipped a bit of his hoodie.

“Uh, what the fuck is happening? Are we filming a shampoo commercial or something?” jisung yelled out as he watched the two gorgeous boys strut into the building. 

Woojin sighed. “You guys really dont want to watch this. They are about to go and literally charm the pants off of those girls. Which is ironic since they exude almost as much gay as felix over there. And trust me, that’s a lot of gay.”

“Hey!” felix whined in the back. “That’s not true! Binnie is super manly! Nobody would suspect a thing about me when im around him. We are just two bros chilling in a hot tub five feet apart cause we’re not-”

“Felix, you literally try to make out with him every chance you get. Everybody in the whole freaking universe knows changbin is gay now,” jisung argued with him.

Changbin just shrugged. Felix thinks his lips are irresistible. He can’t help it that the bubbly boy likes to stay attached to them 24/7.

They continued to watch from the outside while felix pouted for getting ganged up on. 

Minho was half sitting up on the front desk while hyunjin was leaning over the desk and getting very close to one of the girls. Minho gave them his signature smirk that promised all kinds of fun while hyunjin pouted his perfect lips. He was obviously asking something in a cute way.

“Oh boy, my man is showing off his thighs. And that smirk? They are all goners now,” jisung said proudly. 

“Don’t you think he’s a tad bit too close to her?” seungmin gritted his teeth, his upper lip twitching in agitation. 

“Its for the greater good,” felix said evilly while wrapping a possessive hand around changbin’s waist. As long as its not changbin in there...

Just then, one of the girls nodded and hyunjin turned around with a huge smile on his face. He waved everyone in, and chan lifted an eyebrow. “Just like that?” he asked incredulously. "They were in there no more than 5 minutes!”

 ****Woojin patted his shoulder in mock sympathy. “Yes, im afraid this is the only thing those idiots are good for.”

Changbin snorted at that. 

They all walked in a bit hesitantly. Then they heard a gasp from the two secretaries. “Oh my! You all are so pretty! Why didnt you tell us your friends were so good-looking hyunjinnie?”

“Hyunjinnie?” seungmin squeaked. He squinted his eyes in hatred at the girl that called him that. Hyunjin sent him a discreet apologetic smile while turning a bright smile towards the girl. 

“Ah, we didn’t know if it would be okay for everyone to come on up and see JR. we don’t want to break any rules you might have here,” he said cutely.

“I still don’t know if our CEO would appreciate such a large crowd going to see him,” the other girl said quietly. 

Minho hooked his finger under her chin and brought her face closer to his. “Aw, we just wanted to surprise him! Our friend there, chan, he owns a bakery and we just know how much JR loves his coffee first thing in the morning.” minho was totally bullshitting them right now, they have no idea if JR liked coffee or not, but who doesn’t when you own a boring place like this? 

Minho must have been spot on, or the secretary was too distracted by his good looks, because she simply nodded. “Well in that case, you could bring coffee for the rest of them as well. They all like their orders a bit specifically though, which can be kind of a hassle. If you want, i can call them and ask what they want?” 

Minho panicked, but thankfully chan came to his rescue. 

“Oh dont worry maam, we already know what their orders are. That wont be necessary.” knowing chan, he probably actually does know even though he’s never met them. Minho decided to let him handle it while he focused back on the secretary. 

“So no problem, right?” he asked in a sultry melodic voice. The secretary nodded slowly in agreement. 

“The wink! Use the wink!” jisung whispered so low that a normal human wouldn’t be able to hear. But minho and the other cursed heard him just fine. Jeongin chuckled, and minho did exactly as told. 

Woojin started to head towards the elevator, not wasting a second. Chan and seungmin followed, while jeongin, felix, and changbin trailed after. Jisung tiptoed past really quick, and finally minho and hyunjin said their thanks and goodbyes to the secretaries with promises of coffee that will never come. 

___

“Ok this is it,” jeongin told them as he stood in front of giant shiny wooden doors that lead to the top floor of the building. 

Jisung smiled and walked to the door while cracking his knuckles. “Well ill take it from here you guys-” 

“Not so fast, love. You really gotta stop charging forward like an angry poodle,” minho chuckled lightly while grabbing the back of jisung’s tshirt. 

“Ill go first,” woojin stated. He stepped forward towards the door and yanked on one of the handles. It didnt budge, and woojin raised an eyebrow at this. It was locked.

“Its locked,” seungmin stated the obvious. 

“Not anymore,” woojin muttered as he yanked a second time, only with 100 times more strength. He broke the lock easily and the door swung right open. 

Jisung managed to escape minho’s hold and shoved past woojin. “The party dont start till i walk in-” 

“What the hell?” someone said from behind one of the huge mahogany desks. The place was decked out with tons of books and couches and coffee tables. There was a bathroom off to the side, and another hallway leading to what seemed to be more private office rooms. A little kitchen area was on the other side of the room. Someone was at the sink, making tea as he turned around from all of the commotion. Another person sipped coffee from a mug over at one of the other desks, an amused expression on his face. The person behind the main desk just blinked at jisung and the others, watching them all file into their room. 

“They are going to pay for the door, right?” the male at the other desk said in a bored voice. He had bronze hair that was styled up and he was wearing a suit. He seemed to be busy with some kind of paperwork before jisung barged in. 

“We demand to see JR!” jisung yelled, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the three males in the room. 

“Who’s asking?” the guy at the kitchen sink said casually. He was stocky and blonde, and currently blowing on a cup of steaming tea. 

“I dont have to tell you any-” 

“Sorry about him,” woojin interrupted while shoving jisung aside. “We actually wanted to talk to JR and whoever else is affiliated with him. And yes, we dont mean any harm...for now.” he let that sink in, waiting for the other males to make a move. Minho and hyunjin were at the ready on either side of their group, and felix and jeongin took the back. When woojin shoved jisung, he was actually herding him in the center discreetly with the other cherished. 

The main guy at the huge desk sighed, sitting back in his chair. He seemed to be the one in charge. “Jonghyun!” he called.

“Yeah?” someone called back, presumably JR. they all heard a flush from a toilet and then the sound of running water. Finally a door opened further down the hall and out came Jr. he stopped in his tracks, glancing at all of the people in the room.

“Well shit,” he tsked. 

“Are these friends of yours?” the blonde guy asked. 

“Yep, we became best friends after they _locked_ me in a supply closet for a night!” jr yelled, pointing at woojin and the others. 

“You had it coming after almost killing changbin!” seungmin argued back, his eyes flashing red. 

“Changbin? As in seo changbin?” the blonde guy asked. 

The guy at the desk nodded. “Yeah, you’ve missed a bit since you’ve been gone baekho.”

“Why the hell does everybody know who binnie is?!” felix growled out while stepping in front of changbin. His eyes flashed amber in anger. 

“And why the hell are you trying to kill our cherished?!” minho hissed. 

“Kill _your_ cherished?” the bronze haired guy in the suit questioned calmly. “Why do you say they are yours?” 

Chan studied the males in the room before speaking up on behalf of the daemons. “We chose to bond with them. They protect us, and in exchange we give them our lifespan. It wasnt forced. We all freely made our own decisions.”

“Yeah, in fact these stubborn daimons of ours almost fucking died because they are too idiotic to ask for help,” seungmin joined in, glaring at hyunjin for his stupidity. The other cherished nodded in agreement. 

“If i didnt love binnie so much, i would take offense to that,” felix said. 

“Well this is interesting,” the guy at the main desk stated. 

“Aw come on minhyun! You cant seriously believe them!” Jr whined. One look from minhyun and he shut up. 

“Aron, did you see their tattoos?” minhyun asked the bronze haired male. He nodded in answer. 

“Yep, those are anchor bonds all right. Each of the cherished have one,” aron responded. 

“What?!” jr yelled. “But i thought they were going to kill the cherished.”

“ _Us_ kill _them_?” felix yelled in a high pitch. 

“Woah, woah, woah, we need to clarify a few things here,” changbin said over the commotion. 

“Clearly,” minhyun said, folding his hands on top of his desk. “Please, have a seat on any of the couches. Jonghyun, baekho, i want you two seated near aron.” 

Jr grumbled in annoyance and baekho just shrugged, grabbing a few crackers with his tea and heading over near aron’s desk.

Once everyone was comfortable, minhyun began. “We already know you work for sir park in a hidden organization of the government. And we know for years he has been training daemons to gather and ‘protect’ the cherished.” he said the word ‘protect’ in a patronizing manner that made woojin feel a bit uneasy. “We also know you are referred to as the ‘east of eden,” he continued. 

Minho exhaled in irritation at the mention of their unit’s name. They dont like to ever say it or acknowledge it’s existence. 

“East of eden? What does that mean?” jisung asked, looking around at everyone. Changbin and seungmin also shrugged their shoulders, completely lost. 

Aron raised an eyebrow, his eyes flashing a golden color. “They didnt tell you?” 

“Apparently not,” seungmin said sarcastically. 

Minhyun sat up straighter in his seat. “It would seem all of you have been left in the dark. Let me explain. As you may already know, the cherished and cursed ones date back to the biblical times. God bestowed gifts upon special humans that he felt deserved it, and in return they were granted long healthy lives and abilities like no other. It’s hereditary, and so the cherished were created. Unfortunately, they also made great targets, so god once again bestowed gifts upon special spirits of the world, and in return those spirits were granted a short amount of life on earth. They were allowed to be, in a sense, human again. They were extremely powerful, and were created to protect the cherished from harm. Now, are any of you familiar with religion?”

Felix slowly raised his hand, but changbin slapped it back down. Baekho snorted at that. 

“Somewhat,” seungmin answered him. He studied all of the religions at one point. 

“Perfect,” minhyun continued. “For those that dont know, it is common to hear about the garden of eden in the bible. It was referred to as paradise, ‘the land of god.’ only worthy people can reside in this land. Next to this paradise is another land, called the ‘east of eden’. It goes by many names, but it was a land for the wicked. It is considered to be ‘outside the presence or face of god.’ it is exactly the opposite of the garden of eden, said to hold only the worst beasts and monsters.” 

Minhyun ended his little explanation, letting the others piece together what he was implying. 

“So...essentially you are saying that sir park calls their subunit ‘east of eden’ as a sick joke, basically referring to them as monsters or beings unworthy of god’s love?” chan asked quietly. Even he didnt know this. 

It all kind of clicked into place for the cherished. No wonder they thought so little of themselves if this is what they are taught to believe their whole lives. 

“Ok thats great and all, but that still doesnt explain why that guy tried to kill me,” changbin nodded to Jr. 

Jonghyun groaned in agitation, running a hand through his hair. “I wasnt trying to kill you or anybody! I was just trying to warn off that guy!” he pointed to felix.

Felix pointed to himself, blinking in surprise. “Me? But why?”

“Obviously anyone who works for Park is a killer! I was trying to save changbin from you guys!” 

“We protect the cherished though?” jeongin asked. 

Aron shook his head. “Nope, that’s what he wants you to think. You guys are just being used to keep the cherished alive and well until he manages to get his hands on them.”

“No that cant be right. We are trained to protect them. Plus you guys have been trying to kill our cherished since last year,” minho stated, confused. 

“Since last year? All we did was break into jisung and minho’s apartment and looked through their things a bit. We were trying to find the locations of the other cherished, and we hoped either jisung or minho would have their information saved on their computers or something,” baekho added in.

“I dont believe you,” hyunjin said stubbornly.

“Wait, so the daemons that broke into our place and i chased after were you…?” minho stated looking at baekho and Jr. 

“No not them. They are our cherished. You actually fought me and aron. Sorry about the cuts by the way,” minhyun told minho with a half hearted apology. 

“Damn you were a pretty good fighter, though. You almost got us a few times that night,” aron laughed. That still didnt make minho feel better about the situation. 

“So it wasnt you who tried to kidnap jisung in his apartment, or run seungmin over with a car, or shoot at changbin in a drive by? Or even chase seungmin down in his hospital?” woojin asked. 

Jonghyun looked at them, confused. “Uhm? No? Why would we want to kill the cherished? We were trying to track down any cherished we can and keep them safe from you guys.” 

“Can you prove it to us?” changbin squinted at them with a murderous look. 

“I dont know how we would be able to do that?” baekho asked him. 

“Oh thats not a problem!” jisung exclaimed. “Just give me something that you’ve had with you everywhere you’ve gone.” 

“Huh?” jonghyun said to jisung. “What would that do?”

“So i can read the object’s past, duhhh” jisung told him, holding out his hand impatiently for an object. “Then i can tell if you really are telling the truth.” 

“Psychometry. That’s pretty cool. Here, I carry my phone everywhere i go,” aron told him. Aron took his cellphone out of his pocket and slid it across his desk. Jisung got up and retrieved the object, instantly going back to sit down next to minho. 

Jisung nodded, and instantly his eyes glazed over and gleamed a wine-red color. The room was quiet for a few minutes, nobody daring to make a sound while jisung used his gifts. Then jisung gasped, coming back to the present. 

“He isnt lying,” jisung declared. “They never tried to kill us, as they said.” 

“That still doesnt make sense,” hyunjin reasoned out. “We were brought in by park to protect them. Once they were safe, we moved on to the next city to protect the next cherished. Why would we kill them?” 

“Did you actually ever see what happened to the cherished after you left them?” baekho asked with an eyebrow lifted up.

“No…” felix muttered. “They went on to continue living their normal lives…” he said unsure of himself. 

“Well we know, because its happened to us right from under our noses. One of our own cherished was kidnapped from us, and we never saw him again. Its been over 30 years since then,” jr harshly told them.

“You mean Ren?” chan asked.

Minhyun snapped his head in chan’s direction. “You know about our cherished?”

“That little shit? Uh yeah? He’s been a pain in our asses for years now,” hyunjin laughed. 

“Are you sure you got the right person?” aron asked, almost hopefully. 

“Uhh, he dyes his hair in all these crazy colors, and wears a black cape like fucking dracula?” minho answered him. 

“Its him,” jonghyun breathed in relief. “I cant believe he’s alive.” 

“Ew ren is like 50 years old now,” felix snorted. 

“So you mean to tell us that Park kidnapped ren 30 years ago and forced him to work for him?” woojin asked in a disbelieving voice.

Minhyun nodded. “We dont know what he does once he takes a cherished away. All we know is that they are gone the next day from us and we never see them again. Im assuming they are killing the cherished or locking them up. Oh! And he never wants a daemon to bond with a cherished, _ever_.” 

“Why not?” minho finally asked. “What’s so bad about forming a bond with the cherished besides the fact that we take away their freedom and blahblah.” 

“Because once a cherished freely gives away their blood to a daemon and completes the bond, then they are considered useless to anyone else. Their blood is considered useless,” aron said. 

“Useless from doing what?” woojin asked, afraid where this was going.

“From healing a daemon, of course,” minhyun told him. 

Felix gulped, a cold sweat forming at the back of his neck. “So let me just get this straight. A cherished’s blood can heal tons of daemons as long as they dont have any other blood in them?”

Aron nodded, “right.”

“I am so confused,” jisung said to no one in particular.

Minho sighed. “I know, love. Let me try to explain it. The bond with a cherished only starts to form when we give you our blood first. Hyunjin gave some to seungmin in the shooting, felix gave some to changbin when he was dying, woojin and chan exchanged blood within moments of each other, and i gave you mine in the mountains. Each of our bonds were partially formed then, and we ‘tainted’ you with our blood. Your blood was no longer pure. In order for your blood to be pure again, we would have to die, and then the next daemon can move in and try to form a bond with you again.”

“Ok, that makes sense,” changbin nodded. “That also sucks, but im following you.”

“Right. So, your blood can save us. All we need is a taste and the bond is complete. Poof! Your life becomes our life and we can live with you,” minho finished.

“But what aron just suggested is that a cherished’s pure blood can heal a daemon without having to form a bond of any kind. Meaning we dont need to find a cherished willing to share their lifespan with us. As long as your blood is pure and not tainted, we can use it to heal ourselves,” woojin told them. 

“So if a cherished is tainted or bonded, they are worthless,” seungmin muttered. 

“Sir Park hasnt been looking too good lately,” jeongin whispered harshly in anger. 

Minhyun stood up abruptly after hearing that. “Wait, let me guess. He’s been feeling fatigued, tired, sweating...perhaps, _feverish_?”

Instantly everyone was also on their feet. Except for one person.

“Seungminnie? Are you seeing something?” hyunjin asked worriedly when he noticed the younger boy still sitting on the couch with his eyes glazed over and glowing red. He crouched in front of seungmin, holding his hands in his lap. 

Seungmin gasped like he hasnt been breathing for several seconds, and his eyes continued to glow red. 

“A fire. The whole building is going to be burned to the ground along with everyone in it.” 

“Please tell me he doesnt have the gift of precognition,” jonghyun said miserably. 

“He has precognition,” jisung confirmed proudly. “Everything he sees ends in tragedy, isnt it great?” he chuckled in hysteria. 

Baekho was already on his phone, dialing numbers to evacuate the entire office building. If he called even a moment later, it surely would have been too late.

Woojin and the other cursed started herding everyone towards the exit, when suddenly the loud sirens from the fire alarms started going off and sprinklers in all of the rooms and hallways drenched them with water. 

“Well shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Yellow Flicker Beat" by Lorde
> 
> where are my nu'est stans at? lmaooo  
> sorry it was dialogue heavy in this one.  
> just a fun fact, I actually studied many religions at one point in my schooling. even though this story is heavily Christian based, it doesn't mean I don't believe in or disrespect the other religions.


	27. No Air

“Twenty seven, twenty six, twenty five…” seungmin huffed out as he ran down the steps behind hyunjin. “Why the _fuck_ do you have so many god damn floors, this is bullshit,” he ranted out of breath. His legs were _so_ going to feel this in the morning. 

“Sorry minnie, i would carry you, but then you would be in easy access to anybody that comes at us!” hyunjin yelled over the blaring alarms. He could hear seungmin’s mumbling just fine, but seungmin wouldn't be able to hear him with the sirens if he talked at a normal tone. 

“We own one of the best computer enterprises this side of the country has to offer,” aron yelled down to him from the upper floor of stairs. They all were running in a line down the long stairwell, trying to race the blazing fire before it reached all of the exits. They don't know what floor it started on, but they weren't going to waste time to find out. 

They all made it to the 10th floor, minho in the lead with jisung right behind when they started hearing doors slam shut and locking, echoing through the whole stairwell. “What the hell was that?” minho yelled up to everyone.

“That must have been our emergency lockdown protocol kicking in!” minhyun yelled back.

“During a fire?!” changbin turned and looked behind him. He flicked his sweaty bangs from his forehead. The stairwells aren’t usually this hot, but they must have been getting closer to the fire, and there was limited ventilation making everyone sweat.

Baekho shook his head. “No, usually it is only activated if someone hits the panic button in the case of a violent situation.”

“Well why the hell is it activated now?!” jisung yelled up to him, his eyes flashing red in anger. 

“Dont know!” baekho shouted down to him unhelpfully. 

“That’s it! Minho, if you don't break down the door, i certainly will-” jisung started to grab the handle, only to be stopped immediately by minho.

“No!” he shouted at jisung in a panic. Jisung flinched at his abrupt tone, looking at minho with questioning eyes. Minho gently took jisung’s hand away from the door.

“Sorry for startling you love, but we cant just go and knock down every door in our way. We dont know which one has the fire behind it, and if we go opening it, then we could all blow up. Fire safety 101,” he explained. Jisung made an ‘oh yeah’ sound from his lips, pouting and feeling bad for his stupidity. 

“Now what?” jeongin asked impatiently. 

“Baekho, do you think you can get us out of here?” minhyun asked calmly. 

Baekho shrugged, “yeah probably. Lemme through.” and then he started shoving his way to the front of the line. 

“What’s he gonna do?” woojin asked minhyun. Minhyun only smiled at the question. 

“He can get out of anything. His gift is being unable to be locked up, but only if he is the one in captivity. He cant get other people out if he’s on the other side.” turning his head he addressed aron. “Aron, watch baekho’s back.”

Aron nodded. “Already on it,” and he tried to follow baekho down the stairs towards the door that lead to the tenth floor’s stairwell. 

“Damn, that’s kind of cool,” felix said. 

Baekho shrugged again as he passed him and changbin, his eyes taking on a wine-red glow. Aron soon followed, his own eyes glowing gold. 

“So are you guys, like, _together_?” hyunjin asked. 

Jonghyun spoke up. “No they aren't together like that. None of us are. Me and baekho shared our blood with minhyun and aron almost 30 years ago. We all have been living together in secret ever since. Well...almost all of us,” he said sadly. 

“If you guys are all bonded, then why the hell did you try to prevent felix and changbin from bonding, and try and take away seungmin and me?” jisung shot up at jonghyun with anger. 

“Because besides aron and minhyun, we dont trust any other daemons! Not after what they have been doing to the cherished for years now, and especially not since they destroyed that village like 20 years ago!” jonghyun yelled back at him. 

Minho’s blood ran cold at the mention of his village. Jisung snapped his mouth shut, unable to say anything else. 

“What?” woojin whispered. 

“Jonghyun, not now,” minhyun warned. 

“Why not?! We are all sitting ducks until baekho can get us out,” jonghyun frowned, calming down. “Besides, if we are going to help them now we might as well start off on a clean slate.”

Minhyun sighed, but didnt argue.

“Ren was taken from us by Park 30 years ago. He was gathering incredibly gifted cherished for a purpose. We didnt know what for, until a village burned to the ground 20 years ago. It was a peaceful little place, we visited there a few times actually. It was incredible really. Cherished and daemons lived together for centuries. Most were bonded, some were just friends. There were children running happily all around. Then he got wind of what was happening, and swooped in and massacred every single bonded cherished. They were no good to him and his mysterious cause. With the cherished, the bonded daimons were also killed. All that remained were a few stragglers and anybody Park chose to spare. He needed Ren for the clean up!” jonghyun gripped the railing in front of him, angry at the memory.

“Ren can erase memories. If park was to get away with it, he needed any witnesses and the surrounding cities to believe it was just a freak accident or forest fire or something. Ren was just one of the many poor cherished that had to clean up his messes over the years. After that incident we never heard from him again. We even thought he was dead,” minhyun finished for jonghyun. 

“Damn,” changbin muttered. “That’s messed up.” 

Chan looked to minho with worry, and jisung breathed in a breath at the sudden anger he was feeling running through his body. He glanced to minho who looked furious.

“So, you mean to tell me that my mother and father and entire village were killed by the very man that ‘saved’ me and took me in?” he said in a cold voice, his eyes like molten amber on fire. 

“Woah! Were you from that village? Are you one of the few survivors i heard about?” jonghyun yelled down. 

“Im going to kill him. So help me god, i swear i will kill him,” minho gritted his teeth.

Jisung reached up and touched his face, for once being the calm one. This side of minho was kind of scary, and now was not the time to go murderous. “We will get him. I promise we will get him. But right now we need to focus on staying alive. Can you do that?” 

Minho swallowed, nodding his head and taking comfort in jisung’s touch. Even though the touch craze went away, he doesnt think he will ever stop craving jisung’s. 

“Got it!” baekho shouted. He was about to open the door once the lock clicked open, but aron smacked his hand. 

“We literally almost blew up like 5 minutes ago from jisung. What is with you cherished and being reckless!”

“Tell me about it,” woojin rolled his eyes. 

“Ok, everyone take cover!” aron shouted. “Baekho, go back to minhyun at the back of the line,” he asked softly. Baekho shrugged again and stepped away.

“Oh sure, leave me and aron in the front line,” minho said sarcastically. 

“Seungmin, see anything?” chan asked the younger boy. 

Seungmin shook his head, his eyes glowing with a faraway look. “Nope, it doesnt look like we are going to die in the next 10 minutes from what i can tell.”

“Oh how reassuring, the great oracle has spoken,” jonghyun snarked from the upper stairwell. He backed away a few steps just in case. Hyunjin glared up at him. 

“On my mark, one-two-three!” aron pushed the door open, instantly looking around and breathing a sigh of relief when the fire seemed to be on one of the lower levels. “Ok, its not this level, let’s keep moving!”

“Ugh this is so annoying! We are all going to be burnt to a crisp at this rate,” felix mumbled. “Hey binnie, random question. How much weight can you throw with your mind?”

Changbin lifted an eyebrow in curiosity. “Im not really sure. I dont just go trudging through the streets randomly flinging cars around telekinetically like the hulk up in here,” he snarked back at felix.

“I would,” jisung called over to him. They were all heading down the stairs again at a snail’s pace.

“And that’s why god didnt give you the gift of telekinesis you violent little freak,” changbin shot back at him. 

“Hmph,” jisung pouted. “Minho, he’s being mean to me,” he whined.

“He’s right. Thank god you dont have that gift, because then my life would be like 100 times harder than it already is,” minho chuckled. 

“Today is just ‘pick on jisung day’ isnt it? cant even barge in and destroy the place, and then i cant accidentally blow us all up, and worst of all i had to get up at 6am,” jisung muttered. 

“Its not always about you,” seungmin glared at him. “Quit being a dramatic bitch.” 

“And now my own best friend is being a little shit,” jisung sneered at him.

“If i had my slipper with me, it really would be fucking ‘pick on jisung’ day,” seungmin said with a nasally chuckle. 

“Why a slipper?” baekho asked curiously.

Jisung shivered, “you dont want to know.”

___

“Damn how many more stairs?” seungmin asked a few minutes later. They were all sweaty and gross, still trapped in the stairwell. They were on the second floor now, smoke seeping through the door.

“Well call me the next oracle, but golly gee i think there’s fire behind that,” jonghyun said from the back.

“You’re a fucking genius,” seungmin snarled up at him. 

Just then, the building started to rumble. 

“What was that?” woojin asked. 

“The building is crumbling from the foundation,” chan said in a panicked voice, his eyes glowing red. “We have a few minutes, tops.”

“And how the hell does he know that?” jonghyun yelled over. 

“He just does, now shut the hell up already!” jeongin snapped. 

“Well excuseeeee me!” jonghyun humphed. 

“He’s annoying," felix told minhyun. 

Minhyun smiled, “we manage. He really cares for all of us. He’s just not been himself ever since ren was taken. They were close.”

“Understandable,” woojin muttered looking at chan in worry.

The building started shaking again, this time groaning as the support under them started to give way.

“Now im not some architect here, but like, should the building be collapsing that fast, just from a fire?” hyunjin asked. 

“If the fire is hot enough it could,” seungmin answered.

“ _Please_ dont tell me they have a pyromaniac cherished on their side,” jonghyun whined. 

“Not sure, but im not waiting to find out,” chan replied. “Two minutes.”

“Ok that is totally creepy,” aron said to chan, but he didnt question it. “If this fire isnt natural fire, which we already guessed by how fast its spreading, then how do we get out?”

“Cant we just, like, smash a hole through the wall here and jump out of the building?” jisung asked.

“Is destruction and smashing walls the only thing on your mind?” seungmin complained, exasperated. 

“Yes,” jisung answered back childishly.

Seungmin was about to take a step down to the next stair, when he went silent and his eyes glazed over. 

“Woah!” hyunjin yelled out, catching seungmin as he missed the step and pitched forward down the stairs. “Seungmin?!” his heart was beating incredibly fast at the nose dive his cherished almost took. He brought seungmin close to his chest, protecting him from the outside world while he was vulnerable. 

“I think the great oracle is having another vision,” jonghyun answered him dumbly. 

“Obviously,” changbin snarked back. 

Seungmin gasped again, looking up into hyunjin’s eyes with worry. 

“What is it seungminnie?” hyunjin whispered, running his hands through seungmin’s hair and down his back. Seungmin shook his head.

“Just another vision of us dying in this building if we dont make it out of here,” he answered back vaguely. 

Chan frowned at seungmin, but then felix spoke up.

“I think jisung is right. If we cant get around the building, let’s just bust our way through it.”

“Yes! Finally someone on my side! Felix i could kiss you,” jisung stuck his tongue out at everyone who thought his idea was dumb. Which was everyone...except for felix. 

“Thanks, but ill leave that to binnie,” felix chuckled. 

“Ew totally didnt need that right now,” jeongin gagged. 

“Well love, if you want the wall gone, then i guess im gonna make it disappear,” minho laughed while cracking his knuckles. 

“He’s just as crazy as his cherished,” aron told baekho. Baekho just shrugged. If it got him out of impending death, he didnt care what they did. 

Minho took a step forward towards the back of the stairwell. He gazed at the walls, trying to get a read on which direction would be best. “Minhyun, what’s the structure of this stairwell like?”

“The main stairwells run on either side of the building. There’s an east and a west, each opening up on the ends of the floors. If you break open the outer part of the walls facing away from the center of the stairwell you can reach the outside,” minhyun answered like a textbook.

“That’s like music to my ears,” minho smirked. 

“Who said you get all the fun?” felix asked, stepping up next to minho. He cracked his neck back and forth. 

“Felix maybe it isnt a good idea if you-” changbin started to say worriedly, but he was shut up by a kiss on the cheek. Felix ran super fast next to changbin, grinning in an adorable way. 

“Ill be fine binnie. You forget that im like super strong and stuff. If anything, your life is way more important and its our jobs to make sure you arent harmed.”

Changbin pursed his lips, but didnt argue. He’s going to have to get used to the fact that there is actually someone out there who wants to love and protect him with all their heart. 

“Well time is ticking, let’s get started,” woojin told the others while rolling up his sleeves. Jeongin grinned also stepping up with him and hyunjin. 

“So, like what? Are you guys just gonna- yep you are just going to punch the wall with your bare fists,” jonghyun rolled his eyes. 

“Got any better ideas?” felix huffed while kicking at the wall and crumbling some of the brick away. 

“We look like prisoners trying to dig our way to freedom! Do you need me to get you a spoon?” jonghyun argued. 

“Actually, if you wouldnt mind-” minho snorted, and jisung came up smacking jonghyun on the back side of his head.

“That’s enough out of you. My gorgeous man over there is getting his fists all beat up trying to save our sorry asses and all you can do is complain.”

“He does that when he gets nervous,” baekho told them. 

Seungmin started to fan himself with his shirt in worry. “Its getting hotter in here.”

“Almost done!” jeongin called over. 

Hyunjin ran back over to the railing, gripping it tightly with one hand and then yanking up on it. The metal bent slowly under his strength until it snapped off. He ran back to the others, grinning. “Batter up!” he yelled as he smashed the brick with the long metal railing. It crumbled until a small hole could be seen through the structure.

“Why didnt i think of that?” woojin complained. Hyunjin ran a hand through his hair all smug, and then swung his makeshift bat again. 

The building started to crumble again, and this time it wasnt from all of the damage everyone was intentionally putting on it. 

“Woah!” jisung said, trying to regain his footing. He held seungmin's hand so that they wouldn’t fall down the steps. 

“Couldn’t we just go back upstairs and jump from a window or something?” jonghyun asked while clutching onto minhyun’s arm.

Aron shook his head. “First, that height alone would be too high up. Even with our increased healing abilities we would be severely hurt, and i wouldnt want to risk you cherished getting hurt in the fall.” jonghyun grumbled at this.

“Oh shit!” chan said, running up a few steps closer to the others. “Guys dont go down any further, the floor is starting to break open!” he warned.

“Well that’s just great,” seungmin mumbled. 

Jisung smacked his fist into his hand. “As soon as i get my hands on that sir punk, im just gonna-” and he motioned strangling someone in the air.

“Its open wide enough!” felix called over, panting. He ran a bloody hand through his hair and wiped the sweat from his eyes. Changbin walked up the steps, grabbing his hand and glaring down at it. “Not now binnie. We can worry about our injuries later when we arent getting burned alive,” he told him softly.

“Baekho, jonghyun, you’re first up. Let’s go,” minhyun ordered. 

“Why do they get to go first?” jisung complained. “Our daemons were the ones doing all the work!”

“They are exhausted, we will jump down first and catch everyone,” aron said calmly. Jisung tsked at this, but not arguing.

Minhyun stood at the edge of the opening, staring down at the ground below. Everyone sighed a breath of relief when they could feel the cooler air creep in. it was getting extremely hot from the fire burning behind the door to the second floor. 

“It isnt that far down i guess,” minhyun mumbled, and then he jumped, landing perfectly in a crouch. 

“My cat can do better,” jisung muttered pettily. 

“You dont have a cat,” seungmin reminded him. 

“Jonghyun, jump down! Ill catch you!” minhyun yelled up to them. 

“Ugh, he always makes me go first,” he complained, but jumped down with no problems. 

“Hurry it up guys!” chan warned, grabbing what was left of the railing as more of the flooring started to cave in under him. He and seungmin were the closest. 

Aron jumped down next, motioning to catch baekho. baekho just walked off the edge with a blank expression and fell down. 

Jeongin jumped next followed by woojin. 

“We may be tired, but we can still help!” jeongin smiled at minhyun and aron. 

“Go on love, you’re next,” minho pushed jisung lightly. “Woojin and jeongin will make sure they catch you properly.”

“Ugh ok, but i wish it was you catching me,” jisung muttered, his heart beating really fast. He honestly doesnt trust anyone as much as he trusts minho.

“I know, but my hands are a little beat up right now while they heal, and time is not on our side,” minho reasoned. “Here, ill hold your waist and then follow you down right after.”

Jisung felt a little better at that, and marched towards the edge. “Fuck it,” he said, and then brought his hands up and swan dived off the building. 

“Woah there!” woojin and minhyun said, catching jisung. 

“Dramatic much?!” minho called down as he jumped down. 

“If i was going to die from falling off a building, then i was going to die in style!” jisung argued back.

Changbin’s hands were shaking in slight fear, and he was biting his bottom lip in worry. The others all jumped down perfectly fine, but he was still scared out of his mind. Add in the stress from the situation, and he was a mess. He glanced back to felix, feeling horrible and a failure. 

Felix felt something was wrong with changbin, and took his eyes away from the commotion down below that jisung caused. “Binnie?” he asked in concern. Changbin gripped the end of felix’s tshirt, looking down at the ground and hiding his eyes in his bangs. Felix came closer, bending a little to see what the problem was. “Binnie are you ok? Its almost your turn. Dont be scared of the height, its not that far down, and the others got you so-”

Changbin shook his head. “Im not scared of the height. Its just...you’re going to think its stupid,” he mumbled, gripping felix’s shirt even more. 

“I would never think something that scares you is stupid. Now spill before we are all crushed to death or burned alive,” felix chuckled softly. He brought his hand up to lift changbin’s face to his and brushed the hair out of his eyes.

“What’s going on up there?!” minhyun yelled up. 

“One minute!” chan called down. “Guys?” he questioned. 

“You go down next channie hyung. I got this,” felix told him. Chan looked at them in worry, but nodded and jumped down. 

“Lix, i dont want them touching me. I know this is ridiculous, especially in a time like this, but the thought of random people we just met catching me and-” he sobbed out a whining sound. 

Felix’s heart broke at the look of fear in changbin’s eyes. He never wants to see that again on his cherished. He brought changbin closer and wrapped him up in a huge hug. Changbin instantly relaxed in his hold. “Shh, binnie. If you dont want people touching you, that is perfectly fine. Just wait a moment and ill catch you, okay?” 

“But lix, you’re hurt and tired-” changbin started to argue against felix’s shoulder.

“That means nothing when it comes to your well-being. Now quit arguing with me. You would do the same if the roles were switched, right?” changbin nodded at that without hesitance. “Then there is no problem with me catching you. Now let’s hurry up,” felix told him calmly. He let go of changbin and then quickly jumped down.

Aron was getting ready to catch changbin when felix pushed him gently aside. “Sorry aron, but i got this one,” he told the other daemon.

“What? Are you sure?” 

“Completely sure,” felix grinned at him. He held open his arms and motioned for changbin to jump down. Changbin stared down at him with worry, but then jumped. 

Felix caught him, but then his legs gave out and they both crashed to the ground. “Oof!” felix’s breath left his lungs at changbin’s weight on him. 

“Sorry, sorry, sorry, im so sorry,” changbin apologized as he quickly tried to get up and off of felix. Felix giggled, pulling changbin back down on him and wrapping his arms securely around him again. 

“No need to apologize, binnie. I like having you on top of me. If this was a different situation we could-”

“That’s enough out of you,” jisung hissed, nudging felix with his shoe. “So not the time for this.” 

“Okay, only two more, lets go!” minhyun called up to hyunjin and seungmin.

Hyunjin nodded and turned to seungmin. His eyes were glowing red and hyunjin got a bad feeling in his gut. 

“You’re turn,” hyunjin told him. Seungmin blankly nodded.

But then something must have given way, or the fire managed to reach up higher, because the entire building started caving in. seungmin looked up above him, panicking at the debris falling towards them. He looked back at hyunjin and made a snap decision. 

He pushed hyunjin off the edge of what was left of the building. 

“No!” hyunjin yelled, grabbing seungmin’s shirt as he went down.

“Ah!” seungmin slipped from the tug on his shirt, and started falling with hyunjin in the middle of the debris around them. Hyunjin wrapped his entire body around seungmin as they crashed to the ground not so gently.

___

Seungmin peeked open his eyes, noting it was dark all around them. He was lying flat on his back and tried to move, but instead winced in pain at the cuts and bruises he received from the fall. He heard someone breathing heavily over him and snapped his eyes up.

“Hyunjin?” seungmin whispered, coughing at all the dust and plaster floating in the air. He tried to get his bearings, and realized that they must be trapped under a bunch of rubble and debris from the building caving in.

“Why didn’t you tell me? about your vision? I could have protected you,” hyunjin said as he leaned over seungmin, holding up the rubble from crushing him. He started to slip, his arms giving out.

“I didnt want to risk hurting you,” seungmin argued stubbornly. “I saw you getting caught in the collapse without me, and i saw you not breathing or getting back up, and i saw myself alone for years-” seungmin sobbed. A few tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes, leaving streaks on his dirty face. 

He watched hyunjin helplessly with worry, noticing him struggle to keep the building from falling on him. “You aren't just a human shield for me,” he argued some more, making his point.

Hyunjin chuckled humorlessly, sweat beading on his forehead. “Yes, i am. Im _your_ shield. Your life matters more than mine. You can just replace me if im gone, but i could never replace you. Not that i wanted to anyways,” he panted. 

Hyunjin’s strength started to weaken. He may have super human strength, but not even _he_ could hold up a whole building for long. As the seconds ticked by, he slowly started slipping closer and closer to seungmin, to the point where their foreheads were almost touching and lips almost connected. Still, hyunjin gritted his teeth, determined to hold on for as long as he could. 

Seungmin started to panic, truly believing this was the end. Are the others still out there? Is it even possible to find them buried under all of the debris? He swallowed, his mouth dry. He felt useless and weak as he watched hyunjin hover over him trying so hard to save his pathetic life. Still, hyunjin’s words bothered him. It broke his heart to hear him talk about himself like that. Why couldnt he see just how much he means to him?

Seungmin leaned up slightly so that their lips were touching. He was still crying, but if they were going to die, then they were going to die together. He wouldnt have it any other way. What’s the point in living a long life if he couldnt share it with the person that matters most?

“You’re wrong,” he fiercely declared. “To me you are more than just a human shield. You’re _irreplaceable_.”

___

“Are they alive?” jisung asked worriedly. Debris littered the ground all around them as the fire continued to tear down what was left of the building. 

“They must have fell down around here, right?” jeongin yelled over, hurriedly throwing rocks and other parts of the building off to the side. 

“They are a few feet to your left, under all of that concrete and piping,” chan said automatically. 

Minhyun looked at him funny. “What did you say your gift was again?”

“Auras,” chan answered without looking at him. Minhyun nodded, deciding to drop it. Woojin glanced at minhyun and his group, pursing his lips. Now was not the time to worry about them.

“That’s a lot of debris,” jisung said, hysteria creeping into his voice. “We have to get them out!!”

“Can they even breathe down there?” baekho asked. 

“If they can, it wont be for long,” chan said, helping jeongin shovel debris from where seungmin and hyunjin are. Felix and woojin were already helping, using their strength to take care of the heavier pieces. 

Soon everyone joined in, hurriedly trying to unbury seungmin and hyunjin. Jisung didnt care how beat up his hands were, he was so worried for his best friend. _Both_ of his best friends. Hyunjin and the others have become so important to him and the other cherished that it scared him to think about what he would do without them. 

“Ugh this is taking forever!” jonghyun exclaimed. 

“Hey, watch out!” changbin yelled, his eyes glowing red. He lifted his hands up into the air and immediately several large pieces of debris lifted from the pile of rubble. With a quick flick of his wrists, the debris went flying in the opposite direction. 

“Holy shit! Did you just lift hundreds of pounds with your mind?” minho yelled over to him, watching in awe. The others were equally impressed.

“Yeah?” changbin panted, bending over and gripping his knees to catch his breath. 

“I didnt know you could lift that much binnie!” felix exclaimed. 

“I didnt know either lix. Ive never tried before because i was always out of control. But i figured our situation was already shitty enough, why not go for it?” 

“Ready for round two?” aron asked.

“Give me a minute, that wasn’t easy,” changbin rasped. 

Everyone got back to work, throwing concrete and wood and everything else out of the way, while changbin lifted a bunch every now and then with his telekinesis. 

“Almost there!” Woojin yelled. 

“I think i see them!” minhyun told them. 

There was one huge piece of concrete with wires sticking out of the edges laying on top of them. It was going to take the work of all of them plus changbin’s gifts to get it off. 

“Seungmin?! Hyunjin?! Can you hear us?? Are you alive? Knock twice for yes, once for no!” jisung called down, lifting an edge of the building. 

“Love, if they are dead, they wouldnt be able to knock once-” minho started to point out, when suddenly they heard one knock. 

“Smartass,” jisung cried with relief. “Seungmin!? I know that was you!! Are you ok?? Can you hear me?”

“I think me and the whole underworld can hear you jisung,” seungmin yelled up weakly. “Hurry up you guys! Hyunjin cant hold it up for long!” seungmin cried up, his voice cracking. 

“Give us just another minute,” woojin gritted his teeth, lifting. They had to be careful, because if they slipped and accidentally dropped it back onto hyunjin, they would surely get crushed from the weight.

“Damn hyunjin, how the hell have you been holding this up all these minutes?!” felix grunted.

“Through sheer willpower and pure determination,” hyunjin hissed. 

“Just a little more!” jeongin yelled. 

After some more careful maneuvering, they finally managed to just barely slip the huge piece of building off of hyunjin. 

Hyunjin gasped with relief, collapsing completely on top of seungmin harshly. He was breathing exceptionally hard, his arms and legs no longer able to hold him up. “Sorry,” he breathed out in apology for crushing seungmin.

Seungmin shook his head, happy that they both were able to make it out together. Even though hyunjin was heavy, he didnt dare move the older boy off of him. “Its ok hyunjinnie. Dont worry about me right now.” he brought his arms up and gently rubbed the tension from hyunjin’s shaking muscles and kissed the side of his face.

“Oh thank god,” jisung fell to the ground in the dirt and debris. 

Everyone was sweaty, dirty, and exhausted. They all took a moment to catch their breaths. Changbin was leaning on felix, exhausted for using his gift too much at once. Chan and woojin were also rubbing hyunjin’s back as they gently tried to ease him off of seungmin. Minho collapsed next to jisung and jeongin. 

Minhyun was taking care of his members when he heard grumbling in the distance.

“Stupid ass park, sending me here at 10 freaking am in the morning to ‘take care of any witnesses,’ that piece of shit old man. Doesnt he know that this beautiful face doesnt come from magic? I need at least a good solid 12 hours of beauty rest before i start my day-” 

Minhyun nudged the others, squinting his eyes at the figure drawing closer. He had ice blue hair and was wearing a dramatic black cape with black gloves. He had on high black combat boots that laced up to his knees as he crunched through the debris. He didnt notice or care about the people in the rubble of the fallen office building, assuming it was just another ‘mess’ he had to clean up for Park. he never asked questions, always followed his orders, otherwise he would be killed. Its how he remained alive all of these years under the radar. He was lucky. If it wasnt for his gifts, he definitely would have been dead long ago.

He drew nearer, looking up sharply when he heard a strangled ‘Ren?’ leave the lips of one of the people scattered in the dust and dirt.

He stopped in his tracks, finally taking notice of all of the faces around him. He recognized woojin, minho, hyunjin, felix, and jeongin, surprise overtaking his features. He thought woojin, hyunjin, and felix were dead. They havent shown up to work in days and the whole agency was told that they finally vanished back into a spirit like all the others before them. The only ones he knew were still alive was minho, after declaring his bond to jisung, and jeongin who was still young enough not to feel the touch craze just yet. 

It was the other faces that made his heart beat frantically in his chest. 

“Jonghyun? Baekho? Aron? Minhyun?” his voice cracked. He shuffled a step closer, unsure if what he was seeing was really real. “This is a joke right? You're supposed to be dead, right?” 

Minhyun and the others stood up, a smile on his face. “Hey ren, its been awhile hasnt it?” 

Ren’s lower lip started to quiver as he brought shaky gloved hands to his mouth in shock. Tears formed in his eyes. He took one step, then two, then finally he ran as fast as he could into minhyun’s waiting arms. He crashed into him and was immediately swarmed by the other members. They all were patting his back and hair, some crying, and some chuckling at the drama of it all. 

“We are never letting you out of our sight again!” jonghyun cried. 

Aron nodded in agreement, joy in his eyes that haven’t been there in a long time. “You are staying with us for good now.”

“You can keep him!” minho yelled over to them, laughing. He high-fived jisung as chan and the others snickered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "No Air" by the boyz
> 
> lol if I was ever trapped in a burning/collapsing building with my friends, this is exactly how it would go down.


	28. New Heroes

“Ren, what the hell? Why didn’t you tell us that you were a part of some secret club?!” hyunjin yelled over to the happy reunion occurring a few feet away. He coughed from the exertion of using his lungs. 

“Yeah! And why didnt you invite us?” felix added. 

Ren turned to woojin and the others with an annoyed expression at getting interrupted. “What are you guys even talking about? Im not a part of some secret club. Cant you see that we are having a moment here?”

“Obviously you are if you know who minhyun and the others are. We heard all about your story,” seungmin explained while carefully sitting up. He winced at the huge cuts all over his body, assessing the damage. He moved his limbs from the top down making sure nothing was broken. He had a huge gash on his leg that was bleeding, and another on his arm. Scratches and bruises were starting to form anywhere debris hit him in the fall. He wiggled his toes in his shoes and stretched his fingertips. It seemed like everything was in order. He ignored the throbbing pain from his injuries and focused back on the conversation.

Hyunjin was still too weak to take notice of the state seungmin was in, leaning on chan on the ground while his fast healing kicked in.

“You told them about me?! Do you know how long i spent trying to keep quiet about what was really going on in order to keep everyone safe?” ren hissed at minhyun and the others.

“We will discuss that later. It was important to tell them the truth. They deserved to know it after barging into our place demanding answers,” minhyun calmly told their youngest as he lowered his hand from ren’s cheek to his neck, rubbing soothing circles with his thumb. Ren’s touch brought comfort to him and aron, along with jonghyun and baekho’s touch. Their relationships were simple but complicated at the same time. Even though none of them were romantically involved, they still cared for each other immensely, perhaps even closer than family. Being together for almost 50 years could do that to you. 

“We have some catching up to do. A lot of lost time to get back,” baekho muttered, engulfing ren into a huge bear hug. 

“Later, right now we have to go kill that bastard for keeping you from us,” aron said matter of factly.

“Uhm, excuse you. He’s ours to take care of,” jisung called over. 

“No he’s ours,” aron argued back.

“I cant believe we are fighting over who gets to murder a man,” felix laughed. “Next thing you know, we will be on CSI.” 

“But let’s make it CSI-Miami. I liked that one better,” changbin told him, dead serious.

“What the hell are you guys even talking about?” ren asked. 

“You wouldn’t know, you’re too old,” jeongin smirked at ren. ‘

“Ok what the hell is going on ren? Have we been working for a traitor this entire time?” woojin asked, aggravated. 

Ren sat down on a piece of building, letting his cape drape around him like a king. He crossed one knee-high boot over the other. “I didnt want to tell you guys, otherwise i would have gotten myself killed along with all of you.” 

“Well its obviously a little late for that now,” minho snarked. “It doesnt take a genius to figure out this little fire was no accident, along with the whole lock-down part.” the others nodded, agreeing.

“Yeah i gathered that,” ren said simply. “Ok ill tell you what’s really been happening, even before you were born. Congratulations on staying alive by the way,” he said to woojin and the others. He was happy that they were able to find cherished to anchor themselves to so that they can live long lives. 

He blew out a breath in irritation, debating on where to start. “As you know, Park has been gathering talented and rare gifted cherished for a long time. He managed to grab me when i wasnt looking. He threatened to kill me if i didnt agree to work for him quietly. I didnt know if he knew about minhyun and the others, so i kept my mouth shut and did as i was told.”

Jonghyun snorted at that, reaching out and grabbing ren’s hand. “You? Doing as you were told? Yeah right.”

Ren smiled at him, squeezing his hand. “I had a lot to lose,” he whispered to them. Jonghyun frowned at that, feeling the years they lost without ren.

He continued, “i never really knew what Park did to the other cherished and daemons. My job was to come in some time later and wipe the memories of anyone that would cause a problem or saw what happened. I dont meet with the other cherished that do his dirty work for him, i prefer to work alone. Park let me be all these years because i did such a good job for him. I watched people come and go, but refused to associate with them unless i had to. My motto: trust no one.”

Woojin nodded, that was an understandable thing to do considering ren’s situation. 

“Then why were you willing to help us when you erased our cherished’s memories?” felix asked. 

Ren smiled, flicking some of his ice blue bangs out of his eyes. “When he brought in woojin, and then minho, and then hyunjin and the rest of you, i was surprised. You all were so young. He told us he was starting up a new division within the government. This team was carefully chosen by him. You all had no connections left to the world, no family or friends to miss you. To put it cruelly, you were nobodies: insignificant people that wouldn’t leave their mark on anything once they were gone. You were to be trained like a ‘witness protection program’ and go out ‘saving’ the cherished until Park can snatch them from their daily lives. You have to remember, we are all very old, born from a different generation. It is much easier to notice a person gone missing now than it was back then. Back then you can grab someone right off the street and nothing would have been done about it.”

“Well ill be damned,” jeongin muttered.

Ren continued, “woojin was brought first. Nothing dramatic happened to him in his life. He lived in an orphanage until Park got wind and took him. Minho was next. Park obliterated his entire village, only bringing back the few he deemed worthy of potential. I had the unfortunate job of messing with everyone’s memories about what happened. Then came felix. He was the son of two daemons who died right in front of him. Park ‘rescued’ him at a young age where he joined woojin and minho. Next was hyunjin, a senior in high school. He had a bright future ahead of him, going to law school and becoming an attorney. But then hyunjin didnt want that life anymore once he was told he would die on or before the age of 25. He willingly joined, not even realizing what he was getting himself into. Last is the new guy. Dont know much about him,” ren shrugged.

“Are you referring to jeongin?” minho asked. 

“Now thats just rude,” jeongin huffed. 

“Sorry kid, i didnt feel like learning anymore names around the place,” ren told him. He didnt sound sorry at all.

“So we were just a bunch of idiots, trained to do his bidding without even realizing it. All of those cherished we helped over the years ended up suffering an even worse fate than they would have had if they were to risk being out on the streets,” woojin looked down, ashamed.

“So basically we are working for the very people we were trained to protect the cherished from,” hyunjin growled out, gritting his teeth. 

“Now, when you look at it that way, i guess you’re right. But you actually did help many people throughout the years. Its not your fault what happens to them after you leave. At first i was wary of this new ‘witness protection team’ park created. I thought you all were willingly helping him watch over these cherished and then get rid of them. But then i noticed you five were different. You had no idea what Park was really doing behind the scenes, so you are not to blame. I kept you in the dark on purpose. The less you knew, the less likely you would die or get exposed to the shit he was up to, and i was also keeping myself safe. I was able to live this long because i played my cards right.”

“Well then what about us?” baekho asked. 

Ren turned to him, a sad look on his face. “I thought you all died. Park made it perfectly clear he would make sure no one could remember or miss me. I had no way of knowing where you guys were. My best case scenario: you and jonghyun managed to survive on your own, living a normal life somewhere in secret after minhyun and aron turned 25 and died. My worst case scenario: park somehow found out i still had family somewhere out there, and he disposed of them like he did with all of the other cherished and daemons that chose to live together as family.” 

“Im glad you are still with us,” minhyun whispered. “Our little maknae, all grown up and taking care of us,” his voice trembled. 

“Me too,” whispered ren as he lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of his. “I couldnt risk trying to find you guys again. If he caught me, he would have killed me. I was scared.” 

“So what now? How are we going to deal with this?” chan asked them.

Woojin and the others shook their heads. “Uh-uh, you cherished arent going to do anything. We will take care of park and then come back to you.”

“I think the hell not,” changbin said angrily.

“Yeah! We want to help!” jisung backed him up. Jonghyun and baekho nodded in agreement.

“I swear to god if you leave me again…” seungmin threatened hyunjin. 

“But we want you all to be safe. We cant fight and protect you at the same time. There’s too many risks, too many chances something could go wrong,” felix argued, standing his ground. 

Changbin turned, completely facing felix. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt, getting into his face. Felix merely raised an eyebrow in amusement at his aggression. “That’s it! I’ve had enough out of you! All of you!” he growled.

“Uh oh, he done gone snapped,” seungmin chuckled. 

“You guys all preach about how ‘we have to keep you safe, we have to cherish you, we have to protect you’ blahblahblah! Well news flash! We want to protect you as well! We want to cherish you, and keep  _ you _ safe! Because before this cherished bullshit, we were  _ normal _ people living  _ normal _ lives who fell in love with supposedly  _ normal _ people! I mean, sure you stalked us and stuff, but we didnt know that at first. I dont know what kind of fucked up stuff living at that place has done to your heads, but it needs to stop. We are a team, and im not some helpless princess who needs to be put in bubble wrap for the rest of my life while i watch the person i love get bruised and battered because he thinks all he’s worth to me is being a bodyguard.”

Changbin ended his rant with a huff, still holding onto felix’s shirt. 

“Chan’s a great psychologist if you daemons have any more of this hero complex you need to work through,” jisung added in unhelpfully.

“Thanks jisung,” chan said sarcastically.

Minho snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. Woojin pursed his lips, not being able to argue anything changbin said.

“I mean, putting you in bubble wrap doesnt sound like such a bad idea,” felix chuckled. 

“Felix, shut  _ up _ ,” changbin snarled, leaning closer and smashing his lips to the pink haired boy’s. Felix laughed in the kiss, not resisting.

“Ugh, they are one of _ those _ couples arent they?” jonghyun said in annoyance.

“Well that answers my question on which cherished anchored himself to felix,” ren said as he rolled his eyes. 

Seungmin got up and limped over to hyunjin who was still resting on chan’s shoulder. He sat down and took hyunjin’s hand in his, wincing as his sore muscles adjusted to the new position. 

“He’s right you know. You’ve gotta stop being so reckless with your lives like you are disposable. We already know what its like to live without you, and we cant go through that ever again. Its just so... _ lonely _ ,” he finished weakly. 

Hyunjin stared at seungmin quietly for a few more seconds, intertwining their fingers. He chuckled, “i cant believe you are lecturing  _ me _ on being reckless. Speaking of which, dont think i didnt notice your injuries. Lets fix you up a bit, yeah?” 

Hyunjin bit his bottom lip harshly, then leaned in to kiss seungmin. All of his injuries slowly began to heal and fade away.

“You know, you could just have him kiss a small cut or something. No need to make out everytime-” ren started to argue, but then jisung cut him off.

“Minho, i think i hurt myself too,” he puckered his lips, waiting. 

“I think you will live,” minho smirked evilly. 

Hyunjin broke away from seungmin, giving him the most gorgeous smile. “There, are all the boo boos better now?” he asked seungmin, pinching his cheek. Seungmin snorted, but leaned in and gave him another lingering kiss on the lips.

“Thank you,” he whispered sincerely against his lips.

“Guys we gotta get going. We are just sitting here in the middle of rubble, pretty soon the human authorities are going to be coming on by,” woojin told everyone. 

“Plus park is probably on his way to assassinating us or some dumb shit like that,” jisung said. 

“Just to be clear, we all think park is a daemon right?” jeongin asked. 

“He is,” ren told everyone, using a tone that left no room for questioning. 

“So like, he’s obsessed with being young forever? Eternal youth? The cherished are just his own personal fountain of youth, but instead of water he drinks their blood?” felix looked around at everyone’s faces, waiting for someone to deny the ridiculous theory.

“Yes, i believe that was what has been happening,” ren confirmed it. “At first i thought he was a cherished like he claims to be. But as the years went by, i noticed cherished going missing, and then he would go through the fevers and other symptoms, and then i saw him chug-a-lug on some blood once and well, i put two and two together.”

“Ok, first of all, that is so gross. I mean, sure i have to have a taste of minho’s blood here and there because of the whole mystical bond we have and it heals me and stuff, but like, drinking  _ hundreds _ of different people’s blood is just nasty on so many levels,” jisung gagged. Seungmin visibly shivered. 

“Can’t you get like, diseases and shit from that?” changbin asked seungmin and jisung. 

“Im not sure…i mean yes, realistically in a normal human its possible to get all sorts of diseases, but we arent talking about humans anymore,” jisung answered him. 

“Well arent you guys supposed to be medical professionals?” changbin argued back.

“Bitch does it look like we are on an episode of grey’s anatomy? I dont know what the fuck could happen drinking all of that blood,” seungmin said back to him sarcastically. 

“Ok we can argue about Park’s possible STDs at a later time, everyone let’s get the hell out of here,” chan said. 

They all reluctantly got up, heading off the streets to avoid any police or firefighters that may be coming. They didnt want to be questioned or any attention brought to themselves, especially at a time like this. 

“Where to?” woojin asked aron. 

“We got a place,” he smiled, leading the way. Woojin looked at chan, who just shrugged. They all followed him in silence. 

___

“Ugh why does it have to be so far?” seungmin huffed, leaning against a fully healed hyunjin. They’ve been walking for 30 minutes straight without a break.

“You know, your lack of stamina is starting to become concerning,” jeongin told him. 

“No, he’s just a lazy ass,” jisung snickered. 

“Im not lazy when it comes time to beat a certain best friend with my slipper,” seungmin snarled at him. 

“Ok, what is it with his slipper?” baekho asked again. 

“Nothing,” hyunjin told him, smiling. 

“We’re here!” jonghyun said, leading them to the front of an old warehouse. 

“Well this looks...cozy,” felix trailed off.

Jeongin snorted, “it looks like a lame version of the bat cave.”

“Ok that was just harsh,” baekho laughed. “Go in, its a lot better on the inside.”

“Yeah, if it didnt look shitty on the outside, it would stand out too much,” aron defended their place.

“I dont know, maybe some updated siding, a paint job…” seungmin suggested. 

Minhyun rolled his eyes. Then he clicked a button from his key chain and the warehouse door opened. 

“Fancy, oooo,” felix sung as the old fashioned doors slid out of the way to reveal more sleek and shinier doors which then opened to a hallway leading into the warehouse. 

“Really felix? You still listen to Twice?” changbin asked, blowing his bangs off his forehead. 

“Twice as in the top girl group in all of Korea?” ren asked, whipping his head towards felix.

“Uh duh. Who else?” felix answered him. 

Ren squealed, “did you hear they are having a comeback later this month?”

“Yeah! Hopefully we can get this whole murdering cherished shit out of the way so that i can go see them live,” felix squealed back.

“Yes, that’s why we are hurrying this along. To make it in time for Twice’s comeback and not because he’s hunting us like prey and murdering other cherished to get rid of a few wrinkles,” minho said sarcastically. 

“I have priorities minho,” felix sneered at him.

“Clearly. It seems like it might be even more important than making sure changbin doesnt get sucked dry like a juice box,” minho shot back at him.

Felix gasped. “I cant believe you would even assume such a thing- Binnie! I promise i am at 100% devoted to you and making sure Park is not a threat anymore and-”

Changbin shrugged. “I see how it is. It’s fine, i dont mind being second best.” he had a slight smirk on his lips, knowing exactly what he was doing. Felix’s eyes widened in horror and immediately hugged changbin into his chest. He started sniffling, and that’s when changbin realized he might have taken it a bit too far. 

“Woah! Lix i was kidding. Of course i know you dont think of me as second best.” he leaned away from felix, trying to get a good look into his eyes. “Oh my god, please dont cry. You know i hate it when you cry,” he groaned, leaning in and kissing felix softly on the lips.

“I feel like im watching an episode of Boys Over Flowers,” hyunjin said while rolling his eyes.

“Woah! You guys have been doing well these years without me,” ren exclaimed, taking in the place. It was nothing overly fancy or futuristic. Just a really nice furnished warehouse. They had technology all over the place, with computers and TVs, as well as phones and tablets. There were a few couches placed randomly to sit, and a small kitchen and restroom area.

Baekho shrugged. “We needed a place to store all our latest models and versions of technology. This is where we started out back when cell phones became a big thing. Obviously as our company grew, we upgraded and have a manufacturing place that makes all of our products. We still kept this warehouse though and kind of modernized it for our own personal use. Its off the grid so no one can find us. 

“Smart,” chan said, nodding in approval. It was a perfect place for their kind to relax. Hidden in plain sight. 

“Do you think the street cameras caught us leaving the fallen building?” jeongin asked.

“Better question is, did the camera catch who the hell did this to us in the first place?” seungmin countered.

“Thats what we came here to find out,” aron told them. “We all are pretty good with our way around technology. Im gonna see if i can wipe out the security cameras before the police start an investigation.”

“And then we can beat up park?” jisung asked. 

“Yeah, we need to be quick. He might know that we are on to him since I never came back,” ren told them. 

“well, let’s just go back to the place to pretend everything is all good, and then wham! Karate chop the jerk in the neck,” felix said, swishing his hand through the air. 

“Do you two share the same brain cell or something?” seungmin asked sarcastically. “I mean, i’ve known jisung has been an idiot since the first day i met him, but i really had my hopes up for you felix.” 

“Hey!” jisung yelled at him. “You still love me though, right?” he pouted. 

Seungmin’s eyes softened, “yes, i still love you. No matter how much you drive me crazy.” 

Jisung walked over and grabbed seungmin’s face, smacking him on the lips real quick. 

“Ew! Stop doing that!” seungmin shrieked, wiping his lips. “If we werent in a life or death situation, i would beat the shit out of you with my slipper,” seungmin started to ramble. Jisung started cackling, dodging seungmin’s half-hearted swing and hiding behind minho. He stuck his tongue out. 

“That’s what you get for calling me an idiot all the time,” he teased.

‘“Normally i would be concerned or upset, but that was just too funny,” minho snorted. 

“If i didnt already know they were best friends and jisung is crazy about you, i would also be upset,” hyunjin chuckled to minho.

“Ok, let’s get this bad boy fired up,” baekho said, ignoring the commotion all around them. 

“What are we going to do once the cameras are erased?” ren asked him, hanging on his sleeve like he used to do back when he was younger. Baekho smiled at how things havent changed all that much since he was taken.

“Beat the shit out of sir pipsqueak, duh!” jisung answered him from across the room.

Ren looked over at him, annoyed. “And i thought minho and the rest of them were enough to handle. Turns out their cherished is just as annoying,” he grumbled from behind baekho.

“And you are still a little piece of shit,” woojin added in, laughing. 

“Ok, who wants to see what happened to our office building? Thank god we have disaster insurance,” baekho announced. 

“Bring it up on the big screen,” minhyun asked him. Baekho nodded and pressed a button, bringing a screen down from the ceiling. Footage of the outside of the building instantly popped up on the screen for everyone to see.

“Ok, this is around the time all of you entered our building,” aron told woojin and the others. They watched the footage, seeing themselves walk through the front doors after minho and hyunjin. 

“Did you seriously charm your way up to our office? This is painful to watch,” jonghyun snorted. 

“I looked damn great doing it,” hyunjin said confidently. Jonghyun ignored him.

“Wait for it...wait for it...YES!” jisung exclaimed. “The wink works every time,” he boasted triumphantly, referring to minho’s wink at the secretary just that morning. 

“Is he for real?” ren turned and asked minho.

Minho shrugged. “He thinks im gorgeous. Gotta please my cherished in every way i can.” 

“When this is all over, i never want to see you guys again. The whole agency thinks woojin let you all run a little bit too wild around the place. He never disciplined you like the leader he was supposed to be,” ren whined.

“Hey now, nobody talks about woojin like that,” jeongin came to his defense. 

“Yeah, he’s the best thing that ever happened to us in that place!” felix piped in. 

Woojin smiled, rubbing jeongin’s shoulder since he was closest to him. “Thanks guys. I love you too.”

“Anytime woojinnie,” hyunjin winked at him. 

“Ok, this is when the fire alarm went off,” minhyun interrupted them. He was one of the few people still watching the footage closely as they all argued. He noticed a fire start to creep into the building, immediately running along the walls and across the floor. Everything immediately caught on fire after that, way too fast for it to be a natural fire. 

“Yep, it was definitely a pyrokinetic cherished,” ren confirmed. “I know park has a couple destructive cherished on his side.”

“Just great. What about the lockdown mechanism malfunctioning?” jonghyun asked. 

Ren snapped his head to jonghyun. “You guys were locked in as well?” he didnt like the sound of that.

“Yeah, its part of the reason why we couldnt get out of the fire sooner before the building collapsed,” aron answered him.

“Shit, this was definitely no accident,” ren swore. “He probably has a cherished that can mess with different electromagnetic frequencies which short-circuited the doors and caused the lockdown mechanism to kick in.”

“Yeah, i figured,” minhyun sighed. 

“Woah, seungmin, hyunjin, you guys took a tumble. I mean, i saw it happen, but it looks so different watching it from above the ground,” changbin commented as the security camera caught some of the building collapsing until the feed went dead.

“Yeah, its real fun. You should try it some time,” seungmin snickered humorlessly. 

“Felix, watching you fall while catching changbin is just down right embarrassing,” woojin laughed. Felix pouted. 

“Why did you do that in the first place?” ren asked him. 

“Because nobody but me is allowed to touch my binnie,” felix stuck his tongue out at them. He himself doesnt know why changbin hates being touched so much, but he has his hunches. This was a discussion between him and changbin for a later time. Changbin gave him a grateful look.

“Alrighty then,” aron interrupted. “Jongyhyun, think you can take care of these camera recordings?” he asked jonghyun.

Jonghyun snorted, “you bet i can. These puny city cameras are like child’s play.”

“What’s he going to do?” jeongin asked curiously. He was still somewhat new to the cherished world, and jonghyun and the others are one of the only others he’s encountered so far. 

“He can also manipulate electronic frequencies, but instead erases or cuts off the connection. Its part of the reason why he and ren are so close, since their abilities are somewhat similar. Jonghyun can erase electronic waves, and ren can erase nerve impulses. Both end up ‘deleting’ memories but in a different way,” minhyun explained.

“Thats pretty awesome. No wonder park wanted ren so bad. Im surprised he didnt try to nab baekho and jonghyun while he was at it,” woojin wondered. 

“Because we tried to hide them the best we could after ren was taken. We didnt even see it coming until it was too late,” minhyun said sadly.

“This bullshit is totally dumb,” seungmin huffed.

Chan nodded in agreement. 

“Ok, done. Easy peasy lemon squeezy,” jonghyun announced, cracking his knuckles. 

“He’s still annoying,” felix muttered. 

“Like youre one to talk,” jonghyun shot back at him. 

“Now what?” minho asked.

“Now we do what jisung says and barge in there taking down park,” woojin answered him. 

Minho shrugged. “Works for me.”

“Seriously? Just like that?” ren asked. “Ive been trying to find a way to get rid of him for years. He has no weaknesses, and he has a stupid team of cherished and daemons that support his cause for some random ass reason.”

“Sometimes, the best plan is to have no plan,” minhyun told his youngest. “There was no way you could take him on by yourself, but with a ton of cherished and daemons gathered, we might have a chance.”

“I still dont like the idea of our cherished getting mixed up in this,” hyunjin mumbled, puffing his cheeks out.

“But we are a team, so get over it,” seungmin told him. 

“I know,” he sighed, gripping seungmin’s waist and pulling him into his side for comfort. 

“For now we are just going to barge in there and knock Park out along with any of his followers. Maybe we can tie him up or something.” aron suggested.

“Why arent we taking him some place to be tortured or interrogated?” jisung asked.

“This isnt mission impossible dumb ass,” jonghyun told him.”you literally found out like two seconds ago that park is the one trying to kill you, and you’re ready to go all terminator on him.”

“Well, why not? Seungmin back me up here,” jisung complained. 

Seungmin nodded. “Jisung is right. Why are we going about this so delicately?”

“So that we can make him tell us where all of the cherished he stole are at. If they are even still alive…” baekho answered him.

Chan smiled. “Dont worry about that. I think ill be able to find them if there are any left.”

Ren glanced over at chan with a confused expression on his face. “What did you say your gifts were?” 

Woojin’s heart was beating impossibly fast, sweat forming at the back of his neck. Chan really has got to stop being so careless. 

“Auras,” chan grinned at ren. 

***

Jisung motioned to minho from across the street. He swung his hand around in all kinds of directions as he hid behind the corner of an old antique chop. 

He had a perfect view on the small casual looking building that was home to ren, woojin and the other daemon’s secret government hideout. It was one of many around the country. Again, hidden in plain sight. Many people walk past it every day not realizing the tiny but powerful world tucked away in the small corners of society.

Minho snorted from his own spot across the street. He called over to jisung. “Love, we arent in a secret co-ops mission. You dont have to do the SWAT hand signals.”

Jisung huffed. “You’re no fun!” 

“So far, nobody has come in or out of the building,” woojin commented suspiciously. “What’s going on in there?” 

“It was fine this morning,” felix answered him. “Everything was normal, except for the fact that park looked like he was gonna drop dead. I think he was too out of it to even notice that hyunjin and i seemed perfectly fine despite the fact that we were literally dying like a week ago.”

“Does this mean he’s in the basement somewhere making cherished smoothies?” jisung whispered.

“Ok, ew,” seungmin said from behind him. “Must you say it like that?” 

“Well, i need to know if he’s going full dracula on us, or if he’s just hibernating somewhere, waiting for the good stuff to come along, aka ME.”

“Why do you get to be the good stuff? I bet i taste a lot better,” changbin snorted. 

“Yeah jisung, you’re not the only tasty snack around the block,” chan chuckled.

“Now you guys are just ganging up on me,” jisung glared at them.

“Plus, he doesnt hibernate. If he’s like any other daemon, his body will just slowly shut down,” woojin explained.

Jisung made an ‘oh’ with his lips.

“Then why is he so bad right now? If he’s been pretty good at keeping up with his need for cherished blood, how come he’s all of a sudden this desperate?” changbin asked him.

“My best guess is that you four were supposed to be his next batch, but we inadvertently messed up his plans by sticking around longer than necessary and then eventually bonding with you. Once he found out about minho, he freaked out, needing to ‘kill’ you guys off right away.”

“So he set up a bunch of attacks to make it look like accidents or public harassment in the hopes that no one would become suspicious if we end up missing,” seungmin stated. 

“Yeah pretty much. Its easy for someone to notice a person missing in this day and age. There were too many obstacles if he tried to just up and grab you without a trace.”

“Damn, he must have been pretty desperate if he is openly trying to kill us off now,” changbin said.

“Maybe with the advanced technology and society, its getting harder to locate the cherished,” chan suggested. 

“So plan A is to go jackie chan in there and keep park hostage until he tells us where all the other cherished are, and plan B is to go Godzilla and beat the shit out of him to the point of unconsciousness,” jisung nodded.

Seungmin smacked him upside the head, “i cant believe you just compared jackie chan to godzilla. Why does minho keep you?”

“He’s a great kisser!” minho shouted from across the street, having heard everything.

“Gag me now, i dont need to know how great of a kisser jisung is,” changbin said with disgust.

“Ok, what’s the point in hiding if you assholes are just gonna sit around and chatter like a bunch of old ladies having tea?” ren hissed from next to minho.

“Keep it a three feet distance there buddy,” jisung snapped his teeth at ren who was too close to minho for his comfort.

Ren gave him the most disgusted look ever, “first, he’s not even my type. Second, just the thought of being with minho like that makes me want to go yeet myself off the building.” 

“That’s not a bad idea,” minho chuckled. 

“Ok, getting back on track, we need to know what is going on in there. I suggest we split up into teams,” woojin told them. “Felix and changbin can go through the front door, hyunjin and seungmin can take the back door. Chan, jeongin, and i will cover the side entrance, and minho and jisung can go from the roof. I dont know what minhyun and the others want to do,” he said glancing over at minhyun and jonghyun. Across the street was ren, baekho and aron.

Minhyun nodded, “we will cover you and the surrounding area in case anyone tries to make a break for it. Just call and we will come. We dont want you guys to have all the fun, we hate park just as much as you guys do. But we dont know the inside of that building as well as the rest of you, so it would be impractical for us to go barging right on in.”

Hyunjin nodded, that made sense. They would just get in the way trying to navigate all of the hallways and rooms inside of there. Not to mention there are multiple floors underground.

“Alrighty, binnie we’re up first!” felix said, grabbing onto changbin’s arm tightly. Changbin didnt mind it, not even noticing felix was doing it more for changbin’s protection than the pretense of being scared. 

___

Felix slowly opened the inner doorway into the building, quickly checking around the place. It was dark and abandoned, which never happens with as many people coming in and out of the place all day at all hours. He walked in first, muscles tense in case anything was to pop out at him. 

“Hello? Is anybody there?” felix asked in the dark.

“Dammit felix, what killer is going to just answer you like ‘yeah hey, im over here in the kitchen-’”

“Hello?” a voice called out to them.

Changbin immediately stilled, not moving in his place. “Oh my fuck, we’re gonna die.”

Felix rolled his eyes and giggled softly. “In here!” he whisper-shouted. 

A dark figure turned the corner and changbin braced himself, until he heard another figure muttering something behind the intruder. 

“I swear you dont know where you’re going hyunjin. This looks like the front of the building.”

“I got this seungmin. Ive been here for practically a year,” hyunjin argued back.

“You both are dumb fucks,” changbin hissed at them from across the room.

“Huh?” hyunjin said, looking around. Felix waved.

“Told you!” seungmin said. “If changbin and felix are here, then that means we just circled back to the front.”

Hyunjin groaned.

Felix giggled again. “Well, we might as well go together since you obviously took a wrong turn.”

“Did you guys notice anything on your way in from the side?” changbin asked.

“No, that’s the weird thing,” seungmin said. “And i havent seen anything in the future either.”

“Well, maybe he took off already,” hyunjin suggested as felix and changbin lead the way.

“Doubtful. My best bet is that he was too weak to move. And where the hell did everyone go?” felix responded. 

“No idea,” hyunjin muttered looking around. The place was dark and abandoned. “We were just here early this morning, what the hell?”

“They probably knew Park was going to try and kill us in that building, and planned to leave at a moment’s notice,” felix seethed. 

“Those traitors,” hyunjin whispered. 

They slowly walked through the dark building, changbin and seungmin taking in their surroundings. The place seemed normal enough. It kind of looked like a little office space, with conference rooms and work desks. Felix noticed changbin’s interest and quickly explained.

“It was too look as normal as possible from above ground. We really did do paperwork and stuff because we had to form new identities for the cherished. Make sure all of their legal documents were in order and things like that. We also spent time here searching for cherished in the area. We had to sift through tons of personal stuff to find you guys.”

“Down below is a workout and training area,” hyunjin added in. “that’s pretty much all there is to it. Nothing super crazy. We move around a lot, so we never needed a huge expensive work place.”

“Damn, you all are right under our noses, and we never realized,” seungmin mumbled. 

They were silent again as they turned a corner, felix leading the way. 

“Ok, that pretty much covers the first floor. If we go up, we will be on the rooftop, if we go down, we will be in the training room,” felix told them. 

“I guess we could try going down, since jisung and minho are on the rooftop?” hyunjin suggested. Felix nodded, intending to make a left towards the stairwell. 

Just as he opened the door to the basement, he heard jisung shouting down from the stairwell that lead to the rooftop.

“Guys! Come quick! We found him but-” he got cut off followed by a loud sound hitting the door.

“Well that can’t be good,” seungmin looked at hyunjin with frightened eyes. “There’s only two things that can get jisung to shut up in mid sentence like that. The first is minho kissing him. The second is something really really bad happening.”

“Looks like we’re going to the roof!” felix told them, grabbing on to changbin’s hand and making a run for it. 

“Hopefully we’re wrong and its just minho deciding to go all romantic on him and push him up against the door or something,” changbin suggested weakly.

“Yeah, not likely,” felix told him, swinging the stairwell door open and sprinting up the stairs three at a time. Changbin had no problems keeping up with him. Seungmin on the other hand...

“Up you go seungminnie,” hyunjin smiled in delight as he grabbed seungmin by the waist and swung him over his shoulder. Seungmin might slow them down if he was forced to run. 

“It’s always gotta be stairs,” seungmin huffed, glaring at the ground as he hung over hyunjin’s back. “Why couldn’t it have been a nice one story library, or maybe an ice cream shop?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "New Heroes" by Ten
> 
> I didn't proofread this chapter, so if there are mistakes please ignore it and ill fix it later :D


	29. Want

Jisung entered the roof behind minho. They cautiously looked around, taking slow steps. Jisung hesitantly looked over the edge of the building, noticing aron and the others crossing the street. He glanced away following close to minho. He may be reckless, but he wasnt _that_ stupid. And he really didnt want to end up in a slushie cup.

“What the hell is going on over there?” minho hissed, shoving jisung behind him even more. A couple yards away, jisung could see a smaller male with blondish hair.. He was panting heavily, his hand on fire as he glared down at an injured Park with wild eyes. 

Park moaned in pain, his hair a mess and face dripping with sweat. 

“You lied to us!” the male shouted at Park, the fire in his hand burned even hotter as if it was responding to his anger. A wind swept by on the roof and jisung could feel the heat coming from it. It somehow made him shiver. 

“What the hell is going on?” minho growled out. 

“Did you know!?” the male said as he whipped his head towards minho. “Did you know what he was doing all this time? What he was doing to us cherished?!” 

“I didnt know,” minho told him sadly. 

“You’re lying too!” the male yelled hysterically. His eyes were shiny and he looked around him wildly. The fire continued to burn, endangering all of them. “How many more of you are going to betray us cherished?!”

“I think he’s the one who burned down the building earlier today,” jisung whispered to minho. Minho didnt dare take his eyes off of the threat, but nodded to let jisung know he agreed. 

Minho held up his hands, taking a slow step towards Park and the crazy cherished. “Woah there,” minho said in a soft voice. “Im not like him, i never once harmed a cherished. I protect them.”

“Dont try to sweet talk me. Is _he_ your personal blood bank?” the cherished nodded towards jisung. Jisung jolted from being targeted and peeked from behind minho to glare at the accusation. 

“Dont you dare touch him,” minho seethed. 

The cherished laughed manically. “Is that what’s going to happen? Is park going to kidnap everyone he finds on the street and give his precious henchmen a personal snack to have at all times?” 

Jisung’s blood boiled at the lies that were spewing from this crazy asshole’s mouth. He gripped the back of minho’s shirt, staying close behind him, but he could never be silenced. He snapped.

“Ok, ive had about enough out of you. minho is the snack, not me, get your facts right!” 

Minho chuckled. “Love, you arent helping.”

“I dont care! How dare he insult you and everything you stand for just because sir piece-of-shit cant die peacefully!?”

“I heard that,” Park rasped out from the ground. He was holding his abdomen, barely conscious. 

“I meant for you to hear it you loser!” jisung yelled at him. “I will be nobody’s protein drink!” 

“What?” park asked, looking confused. “What does he mean by protein drink?” he directed the question towards minho. 

“You kill us and take our blood!” the cherished yelled, throwing a fireball at the ground near park’s foot in warning.

“I dont kill you, i merely sedate you indefintely,” Park answered back in a bored voice despite his situation. 

“Then where are my friends?! Where’s yunho?!” 

“Not important,” park tried to flick his wrist in nonchalance. 

“What?” the guy screeched. Another fire ball formed in his hand. “If you wont tell me where they are then ill blow this whole place up looking for them!” minho could tell he was serious.

“Wait! You cant do that! Our friends are in the building!” jisung cried. 

“Hey, you are obviously upset about what Park has been doing. Well we are too. Let’s just explain this calmly okay?” minho tried to smooth the situation out. 

“Like i would believe you,” the cherished seethed. 

“Im bonded to jisung!” minho told him quickly before the cherished could make another move. “See? We are going to spend the rest of our lives together,” he said as he pulled his shirt collar away revealing his neck tattoo. Then he grabbed jisung’s wrist and showed the inside of it where the same tattoo was, but a smaller version.

The cherished’s eyes widened. “You anchored yourself to a daemon?” he directed the question to jisung. 

“Uh yeah? Do you not see his face like hot damn-” he got cut off by minho pressing his finger to his lips. 

“They get the idea, love,” his muttered with a smirk. 

Jisung pouted, but shut his mouth. 

“Ugh, i should have killed you guys sooner,” Park hissed in pain. He tried moving a bit on the ground, but it hurt too much. 

“All i can ask, is why? Why did you do this horrible thing all of these years?” minho questioned him, slowly taking a step forward in his direction.

“You seriously want to have this heart to heart? because its not fair that you get to live and I have to die. Now cant you just kill me and end my misery?” park chuckled with a cough. A little bit of blood dribbled from his lips at the action. 

“With pleasure!” the pyrokinetic cherished said, aiming his flames at Park’s head. Park tried to scoot backwards, but the small ledge separated him from falling off the building. He had nowhere else to go. 

Jisung and minho both reacted. Minho reached forward to stop the pyrokinetic, and jisung dashed to the door leading down into the building. he managed to reach the door, swinging it open and shouting, praying for one of the other members to hear him. 

“Guys! Come quick! we found him but-” he was interrupted and squeaked as a flame was shot at him inches from his head, he let go of the metal door and let it slam shut, unable to finish his sentence. 

Minho struggled with the angry cherished, hissing in pain as the heat burned his skin. “Try that again and i will end you,” he said in a cold angry voice, his eyes flashing bright gold. 

“Im fine!” jisung called over, running to be near minho. 

He noticed Park try to crawl away in the commotion, and decided to turn towards him. “Oh no you dont,” he mumbled. 

Just then, the door to the roof slammed open and felix and changbin ran out. “Ok what did we miss?!” felix shouted. 

“Hyunjin put me down this is embarrassing,” seungmin hissed as hyunjin was right behind changbin. He set seungmin down gently. 

“See anything?” hyunjin muttered to seungmin. Seungmin shook his head. Nobody was going to die in the near future. Hyunjin breathed a sigh of relief, then focused on what was going on.

The pyrokinetic cherished was small enough to slip through minho’s grasp, lunging towards park. Jisung was about to make it there, also grabbing towards Park

“If the only way to be with the others is through death, then im taking him with me!” the cherished yelled, grabbing Park and trying to jump from the roof. 

Jisung startled in surprise as they both went past him. He grabbed onto the cherished’s shirt with all the strength he could muster, but they still slipped off the edge slightly. He grunted with the weight of the cherished and park. He didnt really care about Park in the moment though. Maybe if he shook the cherished a little, park would fall off faster. He dangerously leaned over the edge, the wind whipping his hair in his eyes so he couldnt see. 

“Minho a little help here!” he yelled as he gritted his teeth. 

“Im here,” minho whispered near his ear. He took a hold of the cherished’s arm and hauled him up effortlessly. He tossed him not so gently to the ground near felix’s and hyunjin’s feet. “Watch him,” he commanded. 

“Ok so what the hell is going on? And who is that?” changbin pointed to the heaving cherished on the ground. 

“Thats the pyrokinetic cherished that brought the building down earlier.” Jisung turned to seungmin and changbin. “He’s a bit coo-coo for cocoa puffs if you know what i mean,” he twirled his finger near his temple indicating he was crazy.

“Okayyyyy,” changbin said, glaring down at the cherished. “Thanks for nothing, man. I just love getting burned alive and squashed by a building all in one day,” he hissed. 

The cherished just brought his hands up to his face, starting to sob in them. Changbin gave seungmin a look like ‘what the hell is with this guy?’

“What are we doing about park?” felix called over as he grabbed the cherished’s arms and held them together so he wouldnt try to attack them again. 

Jisung shrugged looking back at Park just barely hanging on to the ledge of the roof. He was seconds from falling. He took a step towards the dying male, his eyes flashing red in anger. This was the person that not only tried to kill him and his friends, but also tried to separate him from the person he loves most. Wouldnt it be fair to just let him drop the two stories and die? Or at least be so injured he couldnt get back up again? 

“We have to take him in,” minho said as the voice of reason, cutting jisung out of his thoughts. 

“Nah,” jisung said, smirking. 

“What?” minho asked as jisung took another step towards park, grinning down at him evilly.

He brought his foot up, intending to stomp on the hand park was using to keep himself from falling off the building. 

“Long live the king!” he shouted as he went to kick Park’s hand. 

But minho was quicker. He grabbed jisung’s shirt collar and dragged him away from the edge. 

“Really? Did you seriously just say that as your ‘oh so great last words?’” seungmin snorted. “Im just embarrassed of you right now.”

“Give me some credit! That was all i could think of in the moment!” jisung pouted as he was pulled by minho. “Come on minho! He killed tons of people and injured people and almost killed us, so why did you stop me?!” he whined.

“Because one, a fall from the second floor wont kill him since he’s a daemon, even if he is injured and dying. Two, its not your decision who gets to live or die. Im not letting you live with that kind of weight on your shoulders. And three, we have to question him to find the other cherished.”

“Why do you have to be right all the time?” jisung complained. He gripped minho’s arm, breathing in his scent to calm himself down. 

“I got him,” hyunjin said, edging closer to the roof and yanking Park up harshly. He threw him to the ground, wiping his hand on his shirt in disgust. 

“Now what do we do with him?” changbin asked.

“We take him in for questioning,” a new voice joined them on the roof. Everybody swung their heads in the direction it came in.

“JYP?” felix asked, confused on why he was there. Behind him was chan, jeongin, and woojin. chan waved to them cheerfully. 

“I will explain everything, but first we need to get off the roof before there’s a commotion,” he told them with authority. Jisung and the other cherished were so confused. Well, besides chan. 

Park groaned as woojin and minho grabbed him by the arms and lead him back into the building. He hissed at woojin, noticing woojin’s tattoo on his neck. “I knew there wasnt something right about you being the leader. Should've figured you wouldnt just die quietly.”

“Hello to you too,” woojin said sarcastically back at him, then proceeded to ignore him.

Everyone filed out off the roof, heading back into the building. 

“Well, that was uneventful,” changbin chuckled at the back of the line behind felix and hyunjin who were helping the crying cherished down the stairs and into the building.

***

“What did you do with Park?” jisung asked as minho and woojin returned with JYP empty handed. 

“He’s locked up,” minho responded, sitting next to jisung at a big table. He yanked jisung off his chair and pulled him into his lap, wrapping his hands around his waist and hugging him close to his chest. Jisung smiled, settling into minho more comfortably. 

He looked around him at the people present. Everyone was quietly talking to themselves still. They all looked tired and worn out, and their clothes were still messy from all the shit they just went through in one day. Chan was leaning his head on woojin’s shoulder, closing his eyes from exhaustion while jeongin wrapped his arm through woojin’s arm on his other side. Hyunjin was checking for a third time to make sure seungmin wasn’t injured. Felix dragged changbin into a quick but heated kiss, making the dark haired boy squeak from surprise at the suddenness of it. And ren was being coddled by his other four members now that they were finally together again.

“And the other cherished?” seungmin asked, slapping hyunjin’s hand away from his face, but then intertwining their fingers on the table. 

JYP took a seat, breathing out a long breath. 

“His name is yeosang and he’s resting in a room right now. He was a part of Park’s cleanup crew. Basically kidnappers, assassins, spies, you name it they did it. He was more of the destructive cherished though.”

“Then why arent we locking him up?!” jisung exclaimed. “He could attack us again.”

JYP shook his head. “No, i dont think he will. You see, he was kind of manipulated into working for Park. he had no idea what he was doing half the time. Park sort of kept the cherished in a trance like state during all these years.”

The other cherished frowned at that. They honestly didnt know what to say. If they really thought about it, over half of the cherished’s life was taken from them unwillingly by Park. 

“Well what about me? He didnt need to keep me like a zombie all of these years,” ren pointed out.

JYP nodded. “That’s because you were merely cleaning up what the others destroyed. And you were a lone wolf. You had no idea what he was truly up to and as long as you didnt interfere with his plans he left you alone. Surprisingly, he’s not totally unreasonable. I mean, he left woojin and his team alone for the most part as well. As long as his workers did as they were told without questions, they were fine.”

“So what happened to everyone?” felix asked, referring to everyone that he saw this morning.

JYP sat up, starting to explain. “This morning i noticed Park was not himself at all, and i took my chance. I evacuated everyone as best i could. Unfortunately, i didnt know about the hit he put on the building you guys entered on your own. And some of the cherished that were being manipulated woke up and started freaking out. They remembered everything that they did, and all of the horrible things Park was doing to them and their friends. When yeosang came back, he sort of snapped and planned on killing park himself.”

“Within good reason,” hyunjin muttered. 

“But i still had other chaotic cherished waking up and freaking out and had to move them to a safer location in case the police or anyone saw. I didnt have the time to search for Park or Yeosang. Then you guys showed up. I managed to find you all very quickly because i bumped into chan, woojin, and jeongin here. Chan could read their auras from the roof, which i had no idea an aura reader could do that, and so i ran up there right away,” JYP finished explaining.

“Right, his aura reading sure comes in handy,” jisung smoothly covered without missing a beat. Woojin flashed him a look, and chan sat there with a neutral expression completely unbothered. All of the members know something more is going on with chan, and even though chan wouldnt tell them exactly what it is, they love and respect him enough not to pry, and to defend him in case somebody outside of their group gets a little too curious. 

JYP tapped the table, making a decision. “I think we need to take it back to the beginning. I started working for Park because i believed in his cause. He wanted to protect cherished and keep them safe from harm. Being a cherished myself, i agreed with that. So i worked for him and managed to rise above the ranks to have my own team to command. That was woojin and his members. But i slowly started to realize things werent as they seemed. I knew what Park has been doing for quite a while, but i had to tread carefully. If i wanted to put an end to him and save the cherished he already captured, i had to ignore what was going on. Over time, i developed a separate program, one that will truly protect the cherished. I relocated as much as i could, spent hours gathering cherished and daemons so that they could live safely. The only ones i couldnt save were the people already involved with Park. which included all of you. But now that he is out of the way that wont be a problem anymore.”

“So what are you implying?” ren questioned, squinting his eyes in suspicion. 

JYP met his gaze head on. “I want you guys to join me. An ultimate team of gathering and creating a safe haven for both the cherished and daemons. It will be our own secret from the world.”

Minho blinked and the others were silent while they thought about it. To be honest, minho and his other members could handle themselves perfectly fine without any help. He will make sure their cherished lived safely. But at the same time, he would feel bad for the other cherished out there. He looked to woojin and woojin nodded.

Turning back to JYP, he was the first to speak up. “If jisung and my other members are okay with it, then im in.”

Jisung pecked his cheek, “I’m in too.”

“Us too,” chan said. 

“You guys are going to need medical professionals just in case,” seungmin said. “The hospital was boring. And oh look, we have someone in legalities right here too.”

Hyunjin groaned, bringing the back of seungmin’s hand to his lips and kissed it. “I hate law, you know that.”

Seungmin smiled devilishly, “true, but you look so damn hot in a suit. And i want to see you in a suit more often.”

Hyunjin blinked, the corners of his mouth twitching at seungmin’s boldness. “Well looks like i found a weakness of yours.”

“Gross,” jonghyun whined. 

“We are in too,” minhyun told JYP. JYP nodded with a smile on his face at the good news.

“You all are allowed to back away from this at any time. I just thought it would be nice to have people that originally know what Park did as a reminder of what could happen if we arent careful.”

“So what about the cherished Park was using for his...you know?” changbin asked, making a drinking motion with his hand.

“Ah, some are still sleeping, some have slowly started to wake up. I will admit, it isnt a pretty sight. Way back then, Park would kill them for their blood. But with the new advancements in science and technology he was able to take their blood in a more...humane way. He kept them under permanent sedation, only taking their blood in small increments. Then he would develop the blood into pills so its less noticeable to take during the day. I have a medical team with them around the clock to make sure they heal.”

“Well that’s good news…” jeongin trailed off, unsure.

JYP looked at them sadly. “They will be fine physically, but im not so sure mentally. They were manipulated into doing things they didnt want to do as well as have their blood taken from them against their will. As you saw with Yeosang, some of them arent handling it as well, which is completely normal. It will take time to heal, and even then they might still have some scars. But if we keep them safe and secure, over time it will get better. Nobody should handle these kinds of things alone.”

Seungmin and jisung nodded. “We can help with that.” minho hugged jisung closer to him, feeling proud of his cherished. 

JYP clapped his hands. “Excellent! Now before we go, I need you all to understand something. Once we leave here, we can never come back. At least, not for a while. You cherished are going to be living for a very long time, without aging, which means the people in this area are going to notice in a couple years that you arent quite normal. It will attract too much attention.”

“We have to leave?” changbin asked.

JYP nodded. “I know it might be a shock right now, but i promise you we can come back in about 50 to 60 years and restart. You all will need to be kept hidden from the world. You have to change your names, your locations, your occupations. It can be tough. Of course, you all dont have to do this, you are free to stay where you are right now. But it will be dangerous.”

Seungmin shrugged, “i hated the hospital anyways. Looks like i quit.”

Jisung snorted. “Im not staying there by myself. I dont have a problem with moving around.”

Chan pouted, unhappy about leaving his bakery. “I guess i dont mind…”

Woojin smiled at his reluctance, instantly understanding why chan was a little hesitant. “We can buy up the bakery, and keep it maintained as the years go by until we can come back to it. Sound good?”

chan turned to woojin, nodding and smiling. “Of course,” he agreed quietly. “Somebody has got to help you take care of the kids.”

Felix leaned his forehead against changbin’s, looking into his eyes. “We can do the same to your music store if you want?” he asked changbin. He knows how much music means to him.

Changbin lightly brushed his lips against felix’s. Then he shook his head. “No thats ok. I want to start off fresh anyways. Maybe you can help me decorate a new place to sell music?” felix squealed at the suggestion, wrapping his arms around changbin in a tight hug.

Hyunjin leaned in kissing seungmin. “Where you go, i go. You’re my home now.”

Minho chuckled, pushing a stray strand of hair off of jisung’s smudged face. “Well love, looks like we have to find a new apartment.”

“And a bigger bed,” jisung wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

“End me now,” jonghyun complained in the background.

“I think its cute,” baekho laughed. 

JYP nodded with a smile. “Alright then! We are in no rush, but i was hoping to leave within the next few months. We will slowly fade out of society here. Once we are settled in a new place with new identities, i expect woojin and his team to help me search for new daemons and cherished to bring in.”

Woojin nodded. “On one condition,” he challenged. Minho perked up, curious about what woojin was going to say. “Our cherished are our priorities now. They trump any orders you may have of us. They will always come first.”

JYP laughed. “Fair enough! I dont expect this program to be as strict as Park’s. There will be no orders or anything like that, and the cherished and daemons are free to bond together or help each other out in any way they want, as long as its consensual. We will just be a group of friends helping each other live better lives. We are kind of like strays, always roaming the country with no destination in mind.”

Woojin nodded. “Good enough for me.”

“What’s going to happen to park now?” jeongin asked JYP.

JYP sighed. “What has been coming for a long time. I think it’s only right that he fades from the world like he was supposed to all of those years ago.”

“Why didnt he just hook up with a cherished?” jisung asked. Ren glared at him. “What?!” jisung defended. “It was a valid question! If he was so desperate to live, instead of going psycho edward on everyone’s ass, it would have been a whole lot easier to just hook up with one of the many cherished he captured.”

JYP snorted. “That isnt a bad idea, but he was too power hungry to do that. Im assuming he didnt want to have to rely on a cherished to live, he was too prideful.”

“His loss,” jisung muttered, cuddling into minho further. Minho chuckled, kissing the side of his neck softly. 

***

**Several months later:**

****“Over to the left! Just a little more! Ok thats good!” felix ordered the moving men.

Changbin managed to buy a new music place across country where they are going to restart and settle down for another 30 years or so. He’s been slowly moving all of his products over the past month. Felix has been giddy with joy at decorating the new place. 

Changbin was currently hiding in the back room away from all of the people. He didnt want to accidentally touch anybody during the move. Felix frowned at that, but he admits changbin was getting better.

It wasnt long after Park died that everyone tried to return to a semi-normal life while preparing to leave.

About a week after the incident, Felix finally asked changbin something he's been wondering for a long time.

_“Hey binnie?” felix whispered in the dark, turning to face changbin. Felix was the only one allowed in his bed._

_“Hmm?” changbin asked half-asleep._

_“Why are you so scared of someone touching you? You even flinched away from me when we first met.” felix was scared to ask, not believing changbin liked him enough to tell him something so personal, but he finally stomped down his fear and gathered the courage to ask._

_Changbin was silent for a while, but then finally spoke up. “You’re gonna think its stupid.”_

_Felix rolled over on his side, wrapping an arm around changbin and bringing him closer. “You know that’s not true,” he said softly next to changbin’s ear._

_“I know, i just think its stupid,” changbin admitted with a weak chuckle. He turned, hugging felix back._

_“You dont have to tell me if you dont want to, but i just wanted you to know that ill always be here for you.”_

_“No, i dont mind telling you. I just hoped it would never be brought up. I shouldve known with your annoying self that it would be impossible to put off for much longer,” changbin laughed quietly as he rubbed his nose against felix’s in the dark. Felix pecked the tip of changbin’s nose in retaliation._

_“When i was teen, i used to be bullied a lot. One day, a whole bunch of kids surrounded me, and i knew right then and there that i was a goner. Either i would have been so beaten up i couldn't walk anymore, or I was going to die. There was no inbetween. I tried to fight them off the best i could, but they were much stronger. One kid touched me, and my gift just kicked in and i flung him against a brick wall. He was hospitalized for a month, and unable to walk again. I was so traumatized after that, and my gift was just constantly going off. I couldnt control it when i was under emotional distress. My family never accepted the fact that i was a freak, and they pretty much disowned me when i was of age. Later on i learned to control it through music. It kept me calm enough to go about my day like normal. I took up kickboxing so i wouldnt have to rely on my telekinesis like that ever again, plus the physical workouts distracted me enough from my emotions. It wasnt until i met chan and the others that i started to relax and let people come near me again. I still flinch with everyone else though...well everyone except you.”_

_Felix sniffled, starting to cry. Changbin groaned, leaning in and wiping his cheeks to make sure there werent any tears. “Lix, it honestly isnt that sad. Why are you crying?”_

_“B-because i love you so much and i hate how you had to go through all of that alone.”_

_“Well, i love you too, and you had to go through a lot of shit alone as well. How do you think that makes me feel? Hmm?” changbin argued back._

_“I dont care about myself. I only care about you.”_

_“And as much as that makes me happy, you still need to care for yourself because if anything happened to you i would be heartbroken, okay?”_

_Felix nodded, burying his face in changbin’s neck._

_After a few more moments of silence, felix muttered against changbin’s skin. “You dont need your family binnie, because you have me now. Ill stay with you. Always and forever.”_

_Felix didnt see it, but a bright smile lit up changbin’s face at his words._

****

Felix smiled at changbin, coming over to hug him. “You like the new place?” he asked, pecking changbin’s lips. 

“Yeah but i would love it even more once everyone is gone and we are alone.”

“Sounds like a plan,” felix laughed.

___

“Are you sure you dont want to buy a new bakery channie?” woojin asked him.

Chan smiled, swivelling in his chair. “Im sure. Ill keep my grandmother’s place closed up for now and come back to it later. Right now i think i want to focus more on my music. I never could when i was running the place all by myself.”

Woojin shrugged, leaning down and giving chan a quick kiss. “Ok, just making sure you are positive this is what you want to do. I have to go and help jeongin take care of the new cherished that just came in. they are younger ones, and pretty lost and frightened.”

Chan nodded, grabbing woojin’s shirt and pulling him down for one last kiss. “If anyone can help calm them down to their new environment, its you. One comfy bear hug and they will be fine,” chan grinned. 

Woojin rolled his eyes. “Let me know if you need anything, ill be here within minutes.”

“Of course. You are always taking care of me,” chan chuckled. 

“Because i love you,” woojin said without hesitance, 

Chan shooed him away, but the smile never left his face. 

___

Jeongin was swiftly walking towards the infirmary, ready to take on the next recruitment of cherished and daemons. He, along with woojin, was in charge of all new personnel. They were to make sure they were comfortable in their new environment, and he was to train anyone who was interested in learning. He heard there were a few feisty cherished in this next set he was about to meet. After a simple physical and checkup from jisung, they were cleared to train if they wanted. 

His combat boots echoed down the hall. Jeongin was a prodigy among JYP’s new recruitment program. All of the incoming cherished and daemons looked up to him, a few even hoped they would get picked for his team. Woojin couldnt have been prouder with how high of a rank he shot up in such a short amount of time. 

Just as jeongin was going to turn a corner to meet JYP and the new guys in the infirmary, he collided with another person. They both crashed to the floor, jeongin just barely catching himself before his ass hit the ground harshly. He rubbed his shoulder as he looked up to see who bumped into him.

“Ow! Watch where you’re walking!” someone hissed harshly. He had dark hair and was slightly shorter than jeongin. Jeongin watched as his eyes flashed wine-red in anger. 

“Actually, you were the one who ran into me,” jeongin stated calmly as he got up. He extended a hand to the cherished to help him up.

“Hmph, whatever.” the cherished ignored his hand, getting up himself and turning to walk away without so much as an apology. “See you never,” he said over his shoulder.

Jeongin stared after him, slightly amused. 

Just then JYP came up behind him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Ah, i see you met Bang Yedam. He’s your new assignment to protect for the time being. Take good care of him.”

Jeongin watched the cherished turn the corner, still grumbling under his breath.

His eyes glowed amber and a slight smirk curled on his lips. 

___

“I need three more first aid kits placed in the back,” seungmin ordered. He threw on his stethoscope and immediately started checking the patient in front of him. His eyes flashed red and then he jumped to the right a few steps, instantly catching a blood pressure cuff that almost fell to the floor. 

“Nice catch,” hyunjin chuckled from the doorway.

Seungmin opened up his own clinic across the country, exclusively for cherished and daemons, but he will treat locals too. They just have to be careful. Jisung is also helping him as well as baekho who recently took an interest in medicine. 

“Thanks,” seungmin smirked, placing the cuff back where it belongs. 

“I see your gifts are becoming stronger. You are able to predict all kinds of accidents now, not just major events.” 

Seungmin nodded, finishing up his patient and then moving towards hyunjin. Hyunjin wrapped his arms around seungmin as if they were hidden in their own little world. “What are you up to?” seungmin asked, tilting his head up and waiting.

Hyunjin smiled at the action, leaning down and kissing his forehead. “Boring legal stuff for the new daemons and cherished. JYP has me running ragged. Remind me again why i agreed to going back into law.”

“Because you love me?” seungmin asked, blinking innocently. 

“Im starting to rethink that,” hyunjin chuckled evilly. Seungmin smacked his shoulder.

“Then no more kisses for you,” he declared. Hyunjin gasped. 

“No please! Give me attention! You know i thrive off of it!” 

“Why dont you go ask felix?” seungmin sniffed pettily. He knows hyunjin and felix are just really good friends, and loves felix as much as everybody else. But he cant help but throw it back into hyunjin’s face from time to time just to get back at him. 

It worked.

Hyunjin whined, caging seungmin against his body and peppering kisses all over his face. “Totally not fair. You are just being mean and you know it. Ill make it up to you later,” he whispered in seungmin’s ear. 

“You better,” seungmin mumbled, his heart racing just as fast as the first time he ever laid eyes on hyunjin. 

“Only for you,” hyunjin muttered against seungmin’s lips.

“Not in front of the patients!” someone yelled in the background. 

___

“Not in front of the patients!” jisung scolded seungmin and hyunjin. They have been extremely touchy as the days went by, and he can honestly say they are almost as bad as felix and changbin. 

They ignored jisung, still lost in their own little world. Jisung rolled his eyes and stomped off in a huff. He grabbed the first aid kits seungmin wanted and then headed to the back room to restock them on the shelf.

As he was in the small storage room, he suddenly was pushed in and the door slammed shut, blocking him off from the rest of the clinic.

“What the hell?!” jisung yelled, turning around. He came face to face with minho, his famous smirk on his lips. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked angrily.

“Having some fun,” minho said simply. He walked forward a few steps, getting closer to jisung. Jisung instantly backed up, glaring at him. 

“I have work to do, ill see you later when we get home.”

“But i wanted to see you now,” minho pouted, stepping even closer.

“No, go away,” jisung told him stubbornly. He backed up against the wall, still giving minho daggers. 

“This brings back memories,” minho muttered in that sweet voice of his.

“I dont know what you are talking about,” jisung denied weakly.

Minho caged him between his arms, pressing his body against jisung’s so there was no escape. “Still such a liar,” he whispered with a smirk. Then he leaned in to shut jisung up before he could argue even more. 

Jisung didnt put up much of a fight, wrapping his arms around minho’s neck and letting his lips move against minho’s 

After a few minutes, minho broke away gasping for breath. “I dont get it,” he whispered in the small room. He let his lips trail from jisung’s jaw to his neck. 

“What dont you get?” jisung breathed out, throwing his head back against the wall and staring at minho with hazy red eyes. 

“Why im so possessive of you. I want your everything. I want you to be undeniably mine. I want you like this, only looking at me. I want to ruin you, tainting you with my touch and only my touch.” he then gave jisung another mind blowing kiss, slow and demanding, leaving no room for jisung to escape. 

Not that jisung ever wanted to leave. If this is what it feels like to fall from grace, he would gladly do it a million times more.

Minho let him breathe again, moving his lips down farther towards his collarbone. 

“That’s a human feeling,” jisung whispered out when he was able to catch his breath. “Wanting something to be yours and only yours. Its a human emotion.”

Minho stopped what he was doing, looking up at jisung and thinking about what he said. But jisung didnt want him to stop. He wanted minho to be his as much as he wanted to be minho’s. 

“Do you feel the same thing as me then?” minho asked him. “Since you are the closest thing to a human?” minho skimmed his fingers down jisung’s body, gripping his thighs and picking him up. Jisung wrapped his legs around minho’s waist, hugging minho even closer. 

“God yes, i felt it the moment i first met you. We are weak minded, me and the humans. I was drawn to you like a moth to a flame.” jisung leaned in, giving minho a dominating kiss, not that minho minded. Jisung then lightly scraped his teeth against minho’s bottom lip, biting it. Minho hissed in pleasure, and jisung smiled wickedly glad to know he’s not the only one suffering from pleasure. “Falling in love with you was like watching myself slowly burn alive in fire.”

Minho sucked a sweet spot on jisung’s neck, gently biting it. “Do you regret it then? Loving me?” he whispered weakly against jisung’s neck. He was almost afraid of jisung’s answer.

Jisung giggled softly, like it was the most ridiculous question he has ever heard. He tightened his thighs around minho and dug his fingers into the back of his neck, hanging on for dear life. “I would never regret it. Making you mine was the best decision i could ever make. Even if we are damned to hell for all eternity with god frowning down on us, i would never change my decision. It was said that God gave us the freedom of choice. But he should have known better, because once he created you i didnt have a choice anymore. I would go back to you again and again, no matter what happens to us. My choice has always been you.”

Minho blinked his eyelashes rapidly in shock, looking down at this perfect boy. He was cherished and loved, blessed by god himself, and yet he wondered what he ever did to deserve him. 

Minho always felt he wasnt worthy of feeling this happy. He wasnt worthy of being loved and wanted. He was supposed to be cursed, dying until he disappeared without a trace. His whole life he thought no one would love him enough to care. 

Without minho knowing, maybe God did love the cursed ones more than they thought. Because if he didnt, then why would he let someone as precious as jisung walk into Minho’s life and stay by his side? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Want" by Taemin. 
> 
> This really is the end! Please keep reading for two bonus chapters!


	30. Bonus: Feel Again

**200 years later:**

The bells to the bakery door chimed as it was opened, a loud chorus of laughter and arguing could be heard from all the way down the street. Woojin walked in first, instantly taking notice of chan near the back, standing still like he was listening to something. 

Woojin smiled, walking to his cherished. He had a hard day, rounding everyone up to meet chan. He’s reopening his bakery again for the third time. It’s been nice, spending some years working and then some years taking a vacation. Ever since Park disappeared, they all have been managing to blend into society, keeping off the government’s radar and living quiet and normal lives. 

Next came in the following members. 

“Seungmin! Its not what you think!” hyunjin yelled, holding up his hands and backing into the bakery. Seungmin’s eyes glinted red in anger. He held up a slipper at hyunjin, ready to strike.

“I saw you flirting with felix earlier. I wont hesitate bitch!” and then he started smacking the hell out of hyunjin with his slipper. Hyunjin giggled and tried to dodge it, grabbing seungmin’s hand and pulling him closer. He bent down, brushing his nose against seungmin’s, causing the younger boy to drop his slipper and lean up. They connected lips, and seungmin wrapped his arms around hyunjin’s neck. 

Felix came in, laughing his ass off, clutching onto changbin’s arm and nuzzling his face into his shoulder. “You arent mad, are you binnie? Hyunjin just wanted to make seungmin jealous.”

Changbin turned his face, kissing felix’s forehead. “Nah, we’re cool. You guys have been doing this for practically 200 years now. You would think seungmin would know its just a joke.”

“I dont think he cares either way,” felix giggled, leaning down to nip at changbin’s lower lip.

Suddenly, someone ran in super fast, breezing past the others.

“Get back here you asshole! Today is the day i end you once and for all!” then jisung walked in, his eyes glinting a wine-red color.

Jeongin walked in after him, sighing. “What did minho do this time?” he asked. 

“He took my favorite cheesecake! He KNEW i was saving that last piece for later!” jisung yelled.

Minho just casually leaned against one of the tables, a smirk on his lips and his eyes flashing amber. “Aw but love, i promised i would get you another. Its our anniversary after all.”

Jisung curled his upper lip in disgust, marching over to his life-partner. “I cant believe i put up with your shit for almost 200 years now,” he hissed, jabbing his finger into minho’s chest.

“Yet you still love me anyways. I can feel it through our bond,” minho told him confidently. He didnt even bat an eyelash at jisung’s scoff. Lifting up his hand, he softly traced the side of jisung’s face with his fingertips, starting from his brow down to his chin. Then he suddenly grabbed the front of jisung’s shirt, leaning down and smashing his lips to his. Jisung didnt hesitate to kiss him back, yanking him down so that they could be even closer. 

 

“...and that’s mine over there, woojin.” chan said quietly to no one in particular. 

At the sound of his name, woojin looked up, searching all around in confusion. He took a silent step closer to chan, questions in his eyes. But chan just shook his head, smiling. “Not now sweetheart. Ill be with you guys shortly,” he called over to woojin. 

Woojin nodded. He sighed, rubbing his temples. He was used to this by now. Chan’s clairvoyance gift has gotten so powerful that it was getting more and more difficult to hide. But woojin will be damned if anyone tried to harm what was his. 

After a few more minutes of watching everyone laugh and bicker, woojin feels chan walk past him. Chan goes over to each member, giving them a kiss on the cheek. Some of them were surprised, some pouted for more kisses (jisung *cough*). They all looked at him a little confused, but shrugged it off. Chan was always overly affectionate sometimes.

Chan walked back next to woojin, reaching out and intertwining their hands. 

“Ok spill. What was that all about?” woojin asked him.

Chan looked at everyone with a fond smile on his face. “We’ll be together forever, right?” 

“Of course we will. We have a long life ahead of us,” woojin replied confidently.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, chan speaks up again.

“I finally got my proof,” chan tells him suddenly.

Woojin glances over at his cherished, not quite following him. “Proof of what?”

“That soulmates really do exist. No matter who we may become, no matter where we may end up, no matter what time we live in, we will always be together.” 

Woojin chuckled. “And how do you know that?” he asked him.

Chan turned to look at woojin, his face inches away from him and his eyes glowing a wine-red color. He gave woojin a mysterious smile as he responded,

“I just have a feeling.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Feel Again" by One Republic.


	31. Bonus: Commentary

I want to thank you all for staying with me and finishing this story until the end. I understand that it took awhile for me to get things posted, but never fear! I will always finish my fics at some point, sooner rather than later (im sorry ‘a glitch’ readers, i have failed you </3). This is not a bonus chapter to the story, but rather a commentary on my thoughts and intentions as i was creating this fic. It is not necessary to read this, but it might give you all a little more insight into what i was thinking while writing. 

***it does contain spoilers, so read at your own risk. 

I first want to say that the creations of the cherished and the daemons was not completely from my imagination. There are some legends and variations of them out there that i have heard of, and based them off of that. I enjoyed putting my own spin on things. 

As i mentioned in the story, the major theme of this was based on religion. There was a lot of talk about God, about blessed individuals and cursed beings. There was quite a bit of blood exchanging and intermingling between both races, which was considered ‘taboo’ for a while. I wanted to show that it didnt matter who or what you are, if you love someone you should be allowed to stay with them forever.

Another theme i was strongly going for was ‘temptation.’ woojin and the others knew to not mingle with the cherished, to keep a distance from them, but they just couldnt help themselves. They gave in to that temptation and chose to deal with the consequences anyways. Of course, things turned out better than they thought since they got to live with their cherished, but i wanted to show that its always a risk you have to be willing to take. 

Now let’s talk about each person, starting with jisung.

Jisung was essentially the ‘main character’ of the story even though i tried to give the others a little bit of their own time as well. He had the gift of psychometry, but willingly chose not to use it in his day to day life. He wanted to be as normal as possible. It wasnt until minho moved in next door and weird things started happening that he eventually gave up his small attempt at being normal and chose to live in minho’s world alongside him and the rest of skz. He was a fiery personality. He lost his temper pretty quickly and was very reckless. Even though he was extremely expressive and veered towards the violent side of things, he still had a kind heart and loved his friends very much. At first, minho annoyed the hell out of him, but that was more out of frustration on his own part for denying he was growing more and more attached to his new neighbor. Being seungmin’s best friend, he wasnt blind to the supernatural world. They both had extraordinary abilities, and when they later became friends with chan and changbin, they all silently understood things werent as they seemed in their world. Unlike other cherished before them, they kept their gifts on the low, hiding in plain sight, which is why they hardly ever were in danger (plus thank you chan for that extra protection they needed). Originally, Jisung was actually supposed to be a little more docile and quieter, blending in and being ‘normal.’ he turned out to be way more obnoxious than i planned lmao. But his personality kind of took shape as the story went and then this happened.

Jisung slowly started to fall for minho as they continuously were shoved together in different situations. Minho was a good complement to his personality. Where jisung was a bit fiery and obnoxious, ready to fight at a moment’s notice, minho was more mellow. He liked to tease and flirt, and egg jisung on all the time, enjoying his reactions. At the same time, he was very protective and found jisung’s antics very amusing. It was never boring when he was with jisung. Minho’s initial idea of jisung was that he was ‘dull’ and would be kind of useless, which you cant blame him because reading his file gave him that impression. But he was really shocked when jisung knocked on his door that first day, which piqued his interest. I wanted minho to be both responsible and irresponsible. He has no problems hanging out in the background and having fun, but then can switch immediately into taking action and getting things done. He has a strong sense of morality (along with the other cursed members) and tries to see the good things in life. 

Chan was by far my most favorite character to write yet. I dont think i can ever top his personality and abilities in this fic, which is perfectly fine by me. I am quite proud of this version of him if i do say so myself. At first, i had no plans on where i was gonna go with him. I didnt want chan to be the main focus of this story since it was supposed to be about minsung, but i love chan way too much to have him be insignificant. I thought long and hard on which ability to give him, and then decided on seeing auras as colors. It fit him really well because each personality trait and emotion was a color on the color wheel. It was a language only chan could decipher. But just like how many of the other characters thought in this story, his ability of reading auras seemed too harmless and worthless. Sure it helped him understand people really well emotionally, but that was it. I wanted chan to be even  _ more _ , and so i finally came up with the idea of him being clairvoyant as well as reading auras, the only cherished in the world that has two abilities. His clairvoyancy was a bit unpredictable, and he had no control of it, but he was able to rely on it in sticky situations. Nobody knows about his clairvoyancy, not even the other stray kids members besides woojin whom he trusts the absolute most. Its not that chan doesnt trust the other skz members just as much, he just doesnt want to put them in any unnecessary harm in case bad people come after him for his abilities. Woojin lives in a constant fear that one day someone might take chan away from him because of what he can do, and he vowed to make sure that doesnt ever happen. 

I didnt want chan to be the main focus of the story, so i tried to make him a bit mysterious to keep the attention on him, but not TOO much attention. He was always in the background making woojin go ‘wtf is going on?’ lmaoo. He wasnt super wise, he just got gut feelings that he never ignored. He didnt take a big stand as a leader either, but he was always someone you could lean on in rough times. Basically, i didnt want him to be some great incredible and invincible self-sacrificing leader. He was just a normal boy, who owned a bakery, and learned to live with a twist of supernatural in his life. He quietly watched over the other cherished as the years went by, protecting them in his own way. And lastly, I wanted him to be like a solid foundation in the group. A home for everyone else to come back to. 

Woojin was intended to be the leader in this one. He was in charge of his little covert group and in making sure everyone was safe. It was his job to worry about chan, and worry about minho and the others. He made the decisions for the most part, but was also a team player. He made sure his little group wasn’t like the others. It was safe to express your own opinions and he rarely disciplined minho, felix, hyunjin, and jeongin for their crazy antics (lol). He tried to be stern when he warned the others not to get close to the cherished, but even he himself cracked and gave into the temptation. He was the first one to anchor himself to chan, eventually realizing that it was ok for him to be selfish once in a while. I made his personality a bit frazzled, but he was also good at what he does. Chan drove him crazy because he was so unpredictable, which made protecting him a bit harder. He lives in constant fear that one day someone might take chan away from him for his gifts. At first he was frustrated that he couldnt get a strong handle on chan’s ability. He couldnt control what chan does, and he felt helpless that chan had to go through a lot of the unforseen changes by himself. Eventually, he realized that he will never be able to understand the extent of what chan can do, nobody can, and so he decided that the next best thing he can do is be there for chan whenever he needs him. He will be chan’s anchor instead of the other way around.

Seungmin was originally supposed to be a pretty helpless and self destructive character. But then his slipper incident happened and i made him a little more bold lmao. He is best friends with jisung and has the gift of precognition. At first, all he could see was tragic events that happened around him moments before they occurred, but as the story went on his gift became a little more stable. He was similar to jisung in personality, but also very different. He was insanely smart, the youngest doctor hired at his hospital. He didnt have the greatest upbringing, so he buried himself into his textbooks and ignored the world. Jisung is insane and was able to bring seungmin a bit out of his shell. Seungmin was sarcastic and a bit snarky which offset jisung’s obnoxiousness. He became firm, telling jisung when he needs to stop, and he isnt afraid to put him in his place. The same goes for with hyunjin. I purposely made the beginning chapters of their meeting in hyunjin’s point of view. To hyunjin, it looked like seungmin was indifferent to his looks and charms. Seungmin could care less about the people around him, and barely noticed him. But as hyunjin tried to get to know seungmin for the sake of his job, he realized that wasnt the case. Seungmin is extremely observant and notices everything around him. He saw hyunjin and was instantly intrigued, but chose to ignore it. At first, he labeled hyunjin as just another pretty boy. But then he easily noticed the frustration on hyunjin’s face whenever people crowded him constantly. I hinted at seungmin’s slow interest in hyunjin through the small comments he made in the beginning as well as his reluctance to let hyunjin hang out with him to get coffee and stuff. And then of course the small signs of jealousy as the story progressed. 

Even though seungmin is bold and not afraid to speak his mind, he is also very shy when it comes to affection. Jisung sort of cured that years before he met hyunjin, but he eventually gave in to hyunjin’s touch because he loved him so much. He started to not care what people thought about him anymore. I still kept the original plan for seungmin to be self-destructive, but not as much. It turned into him being dangerously reckless with a hero complex. He wanted desperately to help the people he saw get hurt, but he just couldnt figure out how. It soon turned into him almost dying all the time. When hyunjin came around, someone who could protect seungmin from himself, the others sort of breathed a sigh of relief. 

Hyunjin was a fun character. He bordered between super flirty model and strong caring protector. He loved the attention he received from other people, but it also annoyed him how nobody took the time out to get to know him as a person. It made him feel kind of lonely. He realized that if he became a lawyer he would inevitably be surrounded by those kinds of people the rest of his life. Upon learning he only lived until he was 25, he decided to take park up on his offer, not wanting to waste what little time he had left on useless things and people. Meeting seungmin was refreshing. Seungmin acted like he didnt care about hyunjin, but at the same time he knew more about him in just a few encounters than the other people did in a month. Seungmin noticed the small things that really mattered, and suddenly hyunjin didnt feel lonely anymore whenever he was with him. Hyunjin’s entire life was always caught up in excitement and action. It wasnt until he met seungmin that he realized he was missing out on so much more. 

Changbin was supposed to be troubled and a bit cut off from the world. But again, his character didnt turn out how i first planned as well lol. I still kept the troubled part of him, but toned it down a bit. Like seungmin (and jisung when he was younger), changbin had an unpredictable ability. His was a bit more destructive and badass. He accidentally hurt someone when he was younger, and lived with the constant fear of hurting others. Of course it was from self defense, but he never saw it that way. His family never understood him, and isolated him from them. He eventually had enough, and left them when he was of age. Music was kind of his savior after that, and it helped keep him calm to control his telekinesis. He eventually met chan and jisung, and started up his own music store because he loved music so much. He liked to be a bit edgy, always dressing like he was in a gang or the mafia, but actually he was a big softie. He never wanted to rely on his telekinesis as protection, and got into kick boxing instead. The physical part of that helped him keep his mind off of his abnormal gifts. He’s a pretty straight forward character, and is always willing to jump in and help out his friends. He mostly keeps to himself and tries not to let what others think about him get to him. Jisung of course was never afraid of changbin, seungmin was pretty blunt and didnt care what changbin did, and chan was always super understanding since he could see changbin’s true self through his aura. Changbin instantly felt at ease with them and his life became a little bit better. Then in walks a bubbly super giggly boy that wears pinks and other pastels and seems to have no fear of him. Felix’s nosiness annoyed the hell out of changbin, but he was also a bit curious about him because felix was never scared of him. Felix literally did whatever he wanted, and just forced himself into changbin’s life. Where hyunjin’s life was too much excitement, changbin’s was too little. Felix livened the place up for him, and changbin didnt realize that he would miss it once it was taken from him. Felix’s strong personality relaxed him in a way, and soon he didnt mind it when felix touched him. To the very end, felix is the only one that is allowed to touch him whenever he wants. Even chan and the others have to be a little cautious before they lay a hand on him. Changbin felt extremely safe and comfortable around felix, and slowly understood he could never hurt felix even in the most dangerous of situations. He finally met someone who truly accepted him and his gift, and loved him anyways, something he never got with his family. 

Felix was the complete opposite of changbin. They were the perfect example of ‘opposites attract.’ where changbin was all hard edges and closed off from others, felix was super bright giggly, manipulative, sociable and very loving. Chan once described him as bright like the color yellow. It brought hope to anyone around them. He was also extremely possessive of changbin, which i liked about him. It took a while for changbin to get used to the fact that he could be someone’s entire world. Even though felix liked to mess around with hyunjin and shamelessly flirt, it was all fun and games with them. He was completely devoted to changbin in every way. Changbin wasnt the jealous type like seungmin, so he just rolled his eyes and snorted at felix’s antics. Felix was extremely emotional, which made him a great person to come to with your problems. But that also caused him to become overwhelmed sometimes. He needed changbin’s straight forward outlook on life to anchor him down when his emotions got the best of him. He also cried whenever he was upset. This by no means suggested he was weak. He was extremely strong physically and had a heart of gold. 

Jeongin was the last to join woojin’s team. They were at first a bit hesitant to let him into their team dynamics because again, woojin wasnt your traditional type of leader in that place. But they quickly warmed up to him and trusted him like family. Jeongin was loyal, a bit sassy, and extremely helpful. The thought of dying young never bothered him because he had nothing to lose. He liked the idea of helping cherished, and was a prodigy out of all the daemons park had. He was going to be the next leader once woojin and minho deemed themselves ‘incompetent’ to park. But of course, i didnt want him to die at the age of 25 so we had to get a cherished for him. Surprise! To those of you who read a glitch, i hope you liked jeongin’s ending. I left it open for interpretation, but of course he’s going to be living a long life with the other members. He doesnt have as big of a role in this story as he does in my other skz fics, but that’s ok because i was happy with how he turned out. He will get his time to shine a lot in other ways. 

The main obstacle the daemons had to overcome in this story was the way they thought of themselves. They believed what they were told their entire life. Park constantly reminded them that they were useless and all they were good for was being a shield for the cherished. This of course wasnt true. I wanted to emphasize on the importance of self acceptance above everything. They didnt realize their self worth and was willing to just throw their lives away without thinking twice. The cherished tried like hell to make them believe life doesnt work that way. The cherished thought “what’s the point in living long lives if we cant share it with the people we love?” i know it might have started to sound repetitive throughout the story, but i purposely had each of the cherished snap in their own way at the daemons and go on a rant about how they truly felt and how the daemons need to get it out of their heads that they are so much more than just objects. 

I mentioned before that a lot of the daemons tend to get power hungry in a way. Minho stated that all of the others were jealous and wanted god’s approval. They believed they were truly cursed and unworthy of god’s (or anyone’s) love. What made minho and the others different from the other cursed was that they never needed to seek out god’s approval. They didnt care about getting recognized for their efforts (from park or anyone that was higher up). All they needed in life was the acceptance from the people they fell in love with. I tried to make that a subtle but impactful turning point in the story. Each of them decided that if they were ever to give up their freedom for anybody, it would be for their cherished. It was the ultimate surrender and they were willing to deal with the consequences of their choice. Of course, the cherished were having none of that self-sacrificing bullshit in their household. Love in this story is all about both partners giving something up for the other. Jisung and the blessed gave up their lifespan for the cursed. They werent forced to love the cursed or anything like that, but they were responsible for their well-being in terms of living a long life. If something happened to one of them, the cursed would also be affected. That’s kind of a scary thought, and some cherished might not be able to handle that. In return, the daemon had to protect that cherished for as long as they live. Their life comes first before their own. However, jisung and the others werent having any of that either. They viewed their daemons as actual people and not objects. This further gained the respect of woojin and all of them.

A few people have been wondering why minho and the other cursed reacted so strongly to the cherished’s touch. This had nothing to do with the cherished being special or anything like that. It simply was attraction. Just like how we get flushed and sweaty whenever we are around someone we are attracted to, they got the same symptoms, only it was way worse and kind of kick started their death earlier than normal. 

I also played around with genetics a bit. Being a daemon was a dominant trait. So even if a cherished and a daemon had a child (which was taboo but it happened), the child will always become a daemon, even though they have a little bit of cherished blood in them. Woojin and minho were an example of this which is why they were stronger than the other daemons and lived longer than their deadline of 25 years. Woojin was even more special because chan attached his own aura onto him every time he touched woojin. Chan was, in a way, ‘marking’ him. That is one of the few abilities that comes with his aura gift. There is nothing extraordinary with this ability, only that chan is able to basically cocoon the person in his own aura and give them a bit of a boost. The theory behind that is if you fix the aura, you fix the person. It’s a way of ‘healing’ that many cultures believe and practice in. I didnt really go into it on purpose, but just mentioned it when he saved woojin. He unknowingly prolonged woojin’s life just long enough to save him in the end. That was purely by accident, but a happy accident. Minho’s genetics were just like woojin’s. He had a little bit of cherished blood in him from his father. Felix, hyunjin, and jeongin were pure daemons. Either one or both of their parents were daemons. Ultimately, every cursed is an orphan in some way if they are pure. Lastly, a pure cherished is hard to come by. A lot of them had diluted blood due to many generations and years passing by. Park was getting desperate to find pure and untainted cherished because he needed a constant supply of their blood to continuously heal his dying body cells. Chan and the other three were pure, especially chan.  A cherished was only spared by Park if they had an extremely rare gift that benefited him or if a cherished’s blood was too diluted to use. He eliminated the cherished that were bonded to a daemon, and he captured the cherished that were pure. Chan and the others were next, but woojin and them accidentally ruined his plans when they bonded to them. As the days went by, Park became more desperate because he was dying at a rapid pace. He started targeting the cherished to make it look like freak accidents. When jisung and the others were on the verge of death, he was going to swoop in and take their blood before they died. However, minho and them got to the cherished and tainted them before they could die. Once park realized that minho saved jisung with his blood, he did the next best thing he could think of. He had to eliminate minho and the others before they could complete the bond. But lol, woojin and all of them already bonded with their cherished before that could happen. The final thing Park could do was kill off the bonded cherished and daemons since they were useless to him. If he kept up the constant fear of mingling between races, then it would be easier for him to find pure cherished.

 

The main fear the daemons had (especially minho) was to be forgotten. They were considered nobodies: they had no connections left to the world, no family or friends to miss them. To put it cruelly, they were insignificant people that wouldn’t leave their mark on anything once they were gone. It brought minho (and felix, woojin, hyunjin) comfort to know that at least chan, jisung, changbin, and seungmin would remember them when they died. They were at peace with their impending death, and were ready to go. But then Park forced the cherished to get their memories erased. That kind of broke minho’s heart the most. It is said that when a person dies, they will live on in our hearts and memories. But he couldnt even have that courtesy because jisung didnt remember him anymore. However, even with their memories erased, the cherished had a constant empty feeling as the days went by. They knew something was missing, but they just couldnt put their finger on it. Chan was the one who figured it out first, but only because he cheated. Woojin had such a huge impact on chan’s daily life that his aura imprinted itself on everything around him. The more he tried to remember, the more his clairvoyant abilities kicked in. his memories were still fuzzy, but he knew for a fact that something unnatural was done to all of them, and he was determined to figure out what it was they forgot. 

. 

At first, i was going to write a strong love story between the skz members, but things just kind of took its course as the story went. The fic sort of went towards a more internal struggle with the characters and themselves. It was more about mental conflict rather than love. There was love mentioned in it, but not as much as i originally had planned. Ill save that for my other fics :)

Oh! And i was also going to put a lot of action scenes and fighting into this as well, but it just didnt fit right into the story. This story took on a more “mellow” tone rather than hype and action. I was going for a more “mental warfare” type of theme rather than fighting and action like in my other fics lmao.

 

Lastly, i mentioned that the daemons and cherished arent soulmates when they form a bond. The bonds in this story were a little unique compared to what a typical ‘bond’ is in a lot of fantasy stories. It was merely a coexistence between the two races. They give and take from each other and live in harmony (unless you are Park and go all vampire on them lol). The cherished were unpredictable with their abilities and a little out of control. Anchoring themselves to a daemon kind of reset their gifts, and they became even stronger and more stable after that, especially with seungmin, changbin, and chan. They needed the daemons as much as the daemons needed them.

However, not having a soulmate bothered chan to no end. He is someone who believes in the supernatural and mythical world the most because of his extremely rare abilities of aura reading and clairvoyance. He truly and whole-heartedly believes woojin is his soulmate, and he couldnt rest easy until he got his proof. :)

 

Again, thank you everyone for your loving comments and support. I read every single one of them with a smile on my face. I hate to say this, but this is where the story ends. It makes me sad to leave this world, but im also happy with it concluding. Even though minho and jisung’s story is finished, it is never truly the end. :)

 

Check out my other fics if you want more skz content :D <3

And please dont hesitate to ask me anything! 

I have a twitter if you wanna hit me up with kpop @stayinmylane10 


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